[LizLovesRats5]

Hi, I know about Rat respiratory issues because I've owned rats in the past, but this new rat I have is a very confusing sneezer. I adopted two neutered boys five days ago, and the first day I brought them home, William, started sneezing A LOT, I mean, like every ten seconds. He did this for the whole first day except when he layed down, at which point he was completely silent. By the second day he was still sneezing quite a bit, but not nearly as much, and again it was only while he was being active.

The sneezing has progressively improved, but still today, his fifth day here, he has sneezing fits. There are times when he sneezes very frequently, but then there are hours on end that he doesn't sneeze at all. He never sneezes when he's being still, only when he's active, but not every time he's active.

I use(d) aspen wood shavings, but changed their bedding to carefresh just in case he's a bit hyper-sensitive. I'm just confused... He came from a VERY responsible rat rescue, from a cage full of his brothers. He lives with his brother in quarantine now, and his brother is fine. Other than the sneezing (and the fact that he is a bit shyer than his brother, Walter), he seems fine. His nose is not runny, his eyes are bright and clear and red-stuff free, his poop is normal, his appetite is healthy, and his breathing is fine outside of the sneezing.... and he does seem to sneeze more when he's excited or stressed, or both.

So i'm just wondering if he's maybe just got a touchy nose, or if he's still adjusting, or if i should bring him to a vet. I don't have a problem bringing him to the vet, and will if i need to. But the rat-experienced vets around here are quite expensive, with a minimum of 45$ just to look at him. So if it's just an adjustment or personality issue, I'd rather hold off; but at the same time, I don't want him to suffer from any lung damage if it is in fact a respiratory infection.

Any advice/insight would be greatly appreciated...

 

[VayeraGirl93]

have u gone back to the rescue and asked them? they might be able to give u immediate and accurate advice about the situation. that's about all i can do to help. im pretty touchy with the sneezing stuff cuz the first rat i ever got was sold to me too young and had a problem with sneezing. i took him back to the store i got him from and got some good advice from a rat-expert there so i didnt need to go to the vet. i turns out he did have resperatory desease and he didnt make it :'-(. i really hope this is not the case for u. good luck!

 

[LizLovesRats5]

Thanks for replying. I did email the owner of the rat rescue, but she hasn't responded yet and probably won't until the weekend (i know this from prior experience with her, she is very busy).

Your experiences and others like it is what scares me. I'm leaning towards waiting a bit longer, and if the sneezing persists monday, taking him to the vet...

 

[VayeraGirl93]

Thanks for replying. I did email the owner of the rat rescue, but she hasn't responded yet and probably won't until the weekend (i know this from prior experience with her, she is very busy).

Your experiences and others like it is what scares me. I'm leaning towards waiting a bit longer, and if the sneezing persists monday, taking him to the vet...

no problem--like i said before, i really hope ur rattie will be ok...how old is he?

 

[LizLovesRats5]

I don't know for sure how old he is cause he's a rescue. Best estimate is 4-6 months. I got some echinacea from the store today and will see if that improves it at all.

Like I said, the sneezing fits are weird and seem to be associate with excitement and/or stress, but I will take him to the vet next week if it continues.

 

[Spider]

I have had the same exact experience. I rescued a 6 week old male Hoodie from Petco, to find he was sneezing every couple minutes with different variations, sometimes it would be loud or soft whistle or hiccup type sound. Otherwise he seemed perfectly normal, I wasted alot of money at 3 Vets who didn't know Rats and were unsure to prescribe, and my own ego trying different Herbal Remedies, I finally went to an Exotic Vet an expert, see's Rats all the time and She said; Rats all carry this Myco and this is the Rat trying to deal with early symptoms of it , and the reason it keeps sneezing is because the Rats immune system can't get strong enough to deal with it. The Vet said that in many years practice and LOTS of Rats she's only seen 3 cases of "Allergy".
She prescribed Doxycycline, it took 3 weeks of wrestling a stubborn Rat to take the Meds before I saw progress, I mean he sneezed steady for about 15 or 16 days than the Meds started to work, and now its like a different Rat, I haven't heard a peep in 2 days,I will keep him on Meds another week than drop it. I also buy alot of Herbal and Probiotic stuff to build their immune systems up. I do believe its helpful.
I encourage you to get some Medical advice for your rat, as time goes on it could worsen, if you can't afford a Vet , I would find a feed store or such and get some Doxycycline and get busy. "Oh it's probably allergies" is a pipedream! get real.

 

[lilspaz68]

I find carefresh dusty myself and my rats (and I sneezed) all the time. Put him back on aspen and see if that helps in the meantime.

 

[LizLovesRats5]

Thanks to everyone who responded. I'm going to change the bedding and continue with the echinacea, as he seems to be getting a bit better these last couple days. If he is still sneezing at all by the end of the week, I'll take a half day and get him to an exotic vet.

I wonder why his brother, who has obviously been exposed to this since birth, doesn't show any signs of myco... :roll:

 

[LizLovesRats5]

Um, I never said I thought it was allergies. So whoever told me to get real, can relax and "get real" themself.

 

[VayeraGirl93]

liz: I dont think they meant it about u--they were just talkin in general