RatPalace.com - Pet Rat Care and Discussion

Wed Feb 08, 2006 10:38 pm

I woke up this morning and heard some rattling coming from the boys cage, I thought it was Herbie at first, since he has been left with some problems from a few months ago when he had pneumonia. Then I realised it was Jack one of the newest boys.
He doesn't sound very bad and he is still really skitty and eating and drinking so I'm pretty sure he'll be fine when I get him on some antibiotics.
I feel that I am somehow causing this to happen to all of them though!
I have had four rats with it now, the same thing. Four out of seven rats is pretty worrying, particularly since they all had it at different times.
They are on carefresh bedding so I doubt this could be the problem. I am so upset that this keeps happening, I'm thinking maybe I should rehome my babies - obviously I'm not meant to be a ratty mummy

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Laura and The animal clan!
Henry,Archie,sootie,Herbie, Jack and Harrison - ratties
Harvey and Dylan - piggles (of the guinea kind)
Honey - kitty cat

Thu Feb 09, 2006 12:15 am

Carefresh can, actually, be a problem for some rats. It's not harmful like pine or cedar, but it is rather dusty and that's always irritated my sneezy wheezy rats. It might be worth considering an alternative (like a paper cat litter, such as yesterdays news or biocatolet) - you can test if the litter is worsening things by moving them onto paper for a while - just newspaper, tissue etc. Anything unscented and change it every day as it's not very absorbant or good at odour control - but for a few days to see if it helps, it's worth it.

And you're probably not doing anything wrong. Where did you get your ratlets from? So many of them are prone to respiratory problems but I do feel your pain - out of my last 8, 5 of them were related, and four of those related rats have had chronic severe respiratory problems from 7 or 8 months old, 3 of them died by 18 months, one barely made 2 years and the last one, my Ella, has been rattly since 7 months old, and is now 14 months - so I don't know how much longer she'll be with me. On top of that, 3 of the 4 that have now died had pituitary tumours - so they obviously had horrible genes. On top of that, I had two unrelated boys - one of them died at 13 months with no warning or any illness during his life. His brother has had more than half a dozen minor brain bleeds between 10 weeks and now (he's 18 months old) and he has a permanent head tilt, some minor right sided weakness, and now personality changes so he's rough and getting aggressive. I spent a lot of time thinking I was doing something wrong as well even though logically I knew I was doing everything right - no drafts, as little dust as I could, I wet dusted with them out of the room, hoovered regularly with a hepa filter vacuum cleaner for allergies, no smoke, no scents, no sprays, no perfumes, paper cat litter and tissue paper, virtually no washing liquid (and the little I used was hypoallergenic supersensitive - the only one I can use because I am very sensitive to them), scrupulous cleaning of the cage etc.... but I still felt like I must be doing something wrong, even though I was doing everything I could think of to keep allergens and irritants to a minimum. I knew logically it was just bad genes but I still felt awful for it - and I have to say that's why I am so passionate about responsible breeding. I'd hate to see any more rats or humans go through the emotional, physical and financial costs that I've gone through, and my poor ratties have suffered.

Please don't think that you need to rehome them - I know you're doing the best you can and the chances are that they'd continue to get these infections, regardless of where they lived... right now they're with someone who cares about doing the best for them... just remember that they'd probably be much more poorly if they were living with someone who didn't have access to the resources you have, and didn't have the knowledge on rat care like you do. Hug

They're lucky to have a mum that cares so much about them that she's so upset about them being sick.

Labrat told me, when I was torturing myself with guilt, that I was doing all the right things and that it wasn't my fault - but that my guilt was because I cared about them so much and felt so helpless to stop it, even though there was nothing I could do that would stop them getting poorly when they were so predisposed to illness - and I suspect that's precisely the case with you. Your guilt and feelings of failure aren't because you're doing anything wrong or you're not meant to be a ratty mum, but because you can't do anything to change the impossible.

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Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~

Thu Feb 09, 2006 2:33 am

I agree with Andy. Carefresh gave my rats some big problems. I took them off of it and for the most part they are doing tons better.

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Crystal...The Ratties..Cocoa & Splinter...The Doggies...Jack & Molly

Thu Feb 09, 2006 11:37 pm

Ok thanks - LittleWillow, you have made me feel tons better. I got them all from a pet store, I think they are all from the same breeder and therefore probably related somewhere down the line. I do care about them so so much and you made me realise I'd miss them so much if I were to rehome them, especially since it seems they are prone to this illness anyway. I will switch to paper bedding for a few days and see if that helps my babies.

On the flip side - Jack seems to be a lot less rattly today, so I'm thinking maybe it was just a one off - do these things sometimes get better on their own, without any antibiotics?

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Laura and The animal clan!
Henry,Archie,sootie,Herbie, Jack and Harrison - ratties
Harvey and Dylan - piggles (of the guinea kind)
Honey - kitty cat

Fri Feb 10, 2006 12:46 am

Aye, sometimes they do - depending on the cause. Some rats are just sensitive to environment changes, cage cleanliness, dust, pollen etc - and often, if they are prone to myco problems or other chronic respiratory issues, it tends to start off in a coming and going pattern - at least in my experience.... It seems to flare up a little, then they fight it down again... sometimes it stays down and doesn't return, and sometimes it comes back again. It really depends on the cause (myco, some other infection, some temporary irritation etc) and so on.

And glad I could help - because it really wouldn't serve anyone any good to get rid of them just because you're feeling guilty - because you've not done anything wrong, and if they're just predisposed to resp issues because of their genes, then they'd be getting sick no matter where they were (unless they'd been born by caesarean in a lab in pathogen free environments and kept there). They're lucky enough to be with someone who loves them and cares for them, and will make sure they're properly looked after.

Whereabouts are you located again?

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Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~

Sat Feb 11, 2006 8:28 pm

I live in evesham, which is in the west mids. I know I could never have gone through getting rid of my babies really - I was just so upset that this keeps happening to me.

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Laura and The animal clan!
Henry,Archie,sootie,Herbie, Jack and Harrison - ratties
Harvey and Dylan - piggles (of the guinea kind)
Honey - kitty cat

Sun Feb 12, 2006 2:59 am

Aye I know Evesham - I used to go through there to visit my ex's family in Bromsgrove.

How is he doing now?

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Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~