[sunbirdx]

Hi guys,
One of my ratty girls, (age ~1) got snuffly this winter and has just come off a 21 day course of Baytril. She is still pretty snuffly at times, but her snuffles seem to be in her nose. I can't think of any other way to explain it. It sounds like she is very congested. There is literally no porphyrin staining, she is eating (a mix of Oxbow regal rat and Innova Snr dog food plus veggies, baby food, tofu, chicken etc. etc.), playing, running. She just sounds awful. Any suggestions on how to alleviate her snuffles. I periodically put a very thin layer of Vick's vapo-rub right under her nose and I think I might try steaming her tonight...but I was just wondering if anyone had any suggestion.


Also, I was wondering if anyone had any success with Ivermectin for mites. One of my girls (just one, of three, weird) had a bad mite outbreak. I have been treating everyone with a grain of rice sized dose mixed in peanut butter once a week for four weeks. I plan to go for another 2. How is the efficacy with this treatment? I bleached the cage two weeks ago, and clean the shelves once week, complete bedding change every 2-3 weeks (carefresh + aspen shavings).

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Rachel

 

[lilspaz68]

Always in the nose, never in the lungs? Did it respond to the meds at all? You could add another med to the combo and try that, or you can try Children's Benadryl and see if it helps the snufflies. I would stay away from mentholated anything...just too strong for those sensitive respiratory systems.

Is this an ongoing thing or new to her?

Mites can respond to Ivermectin, you only need to do it for 3 weeks (3 doses), but if you find that its not working then you should see if you can get Revolution. Mites have occasionally built up a resistance to Ivermectin and it's not a guaranteed fix anymore.

Revolution is a topical, one drop and poof! Mites are gone.
You would have to get it from your vet and its a bit more expensive, but sooo worth it in my books!

 

[sunbirdx]

Yeah, I did the "rat phone", just breathing and heartbeat. This is relatively new for her, we have been doing echinacea and goldenseal tincture 3 days a week and that really kept the resp. disease to nothing. Then as the weather turned and the house got cooler, everyone became a little snuffly. Called the vet and he gave me doses of Baytril for everyone (no doxy though). The sound really just seems to be coming out of her head, it is strange.

I was just going to do the iver for 3 weeks, but then I read (I think on the rat report maybe) that in order to be effective, you have to do it for a minimum of 6 and up to 12. It seems to have done the trick, and we moved the cage in to a warmer part of the house and bleached it, so I doubt there are any mites hanging around.