RatPalace.com - Pet Rat Care and Discussion

Tue Feb 07, 2006 9:49 am

Hello everyone

I have two rats, one a hairless and the other with hair. The hairless is closing in on about two years and the other is about a year and a half now, they've been good cagemates for quite awhile now (both female).

They both have one eye that is swollen and seems to be excreting an excess amount of what seems to be porphyrin. One has it in her left eye, and the other in her right. For the past few nights I've been whiping them with a wet cotton ball - their condition otherwise seems to be fine. They are active and eating well and arent sneezing or showing any other symptoms that I can see. The swelling isn't bad, it's just the porphyrin that concerns me, because it's more than they can clean off on their own.

Anyone have some ideas as to what this could be?

Tue Feb 07, 2006 2:38 pm

What kind of bedding do you have them on? Has anyone been smoking around them?
Some rats have stress related poryphin. Has anything in thier home changed recently? Any new cats or dogs?
They may just be starting to show thier age.

If it doesn't clear up in a few days, I would call a vet and see if they have any ideas.

Btw welcome to Ratpalace. Read through some of the stickies for really useful info about caging, treats, bedding, and just about anything else.

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Rats:
The boys:
Chester (PEW hairless), Kye (Black mismarked hooded), Scout (agouti), Reminder (Beige)

Tapioca(Beige hooded) RIP my big squishy boy...Play hard at the Rainbow Bridge.

Tue Feb 07, 2006 3:22 pm

I dont know much about this but it makes me wonder if its some type of conjunctivitis....infection in the eye....and thats why both of them have it....it sometimes affects one eye only or can affect both eyes....its highly contagious and will spread to other quickly

if it doesnt clear up in say 24 hours...ide be taking them off to the vet

goodluck

deb

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Rosie Ginger Gypsy Bambie Beatrice Cassie Kira Shapelle Shelley kath Kim Corby Chloe kimmies bubs: Leelee Lilly Molly Morgan Jassie Jayjay Tess n Tammy
Roxy 30/06/2004 to 28/11/2005 Relaxing on the banks of the river at Rainbow Bridge

Tue Feb 07, 2006 6:06 pm

The only thing I can think of is we recently changed their bedding. Usually we used Yesterday's News and now since they were out of that the last time we went to the store, we bought a different brand of recycled newspaper litter (it looks and smells quite a bit different). When I get home today I'll clean their cage and put YesterdaysNews in again to see how they react to that.

Wed Feb 08, 2006 8:02 am

I've been doing some extensive research on their symptoms. You seemed to be right on the money with the conjunctivitis (pinkeye). The recent bedding change (was pretty dusty), the way the second rat caught the infection very quickly, and all the symptoms - they match up completely to the sites regarding conjunctivitis that I read. I did forget to mention that one rat got it slightly before the other, and since they like to groom eachother all over, even on their face, the other seemed to catch it pretty fast. I placed an order for terramycin ophthalmic ointment, which should be here soon... I'll let you know how it goes.