# natural remedy for uri?



## JessyGene (Feb 27, 2012)

My rat Jimi is very prone to URIs (maybe because he grew up on pine bedding in a tiny cage), and I have tried several medications and combos of medications without great results. When he is off medication he sneezes a lot and sometimes has a bit of porphyrin, but still acts healthy. When he is on medication he still sneezes a quite a bit and once in a while I see some porphyrin around his eyes in the morning. So I think the medicine might be helping a bit, but no matter what medication or for how long i use it the sneezing never fully goes away. It's getting expensive constantly buying medicine so I want to try something else (if he gets worse on a natural remedy then i will go back to the meds). 

I read somewhere on here suggested garlic, honey, oil of oregano, and some other things. Do you think these could help? Should I just try one at a time, or can I make a mixture of everything and feed a bit to him every day? How much of these things should I give him per day?

Does ecinacea actually work? How much should I give and on what schedule?


Also, I'm pretty sure it's not allergies. I use fleece and yesterdays news and the cage is kept pretty clean. 

Thanks for any help!


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## Jess Of TheFatRatChannel (Jan 31, 2013)

If the medicine truly isn't working there's here's what i suggest:

-Sprinkle garlic on his food (it doesn't cure URI's but it does boost the immune system and will will help him recover over time)
-Buy some healx Booster. (it is so inexpensive and is jam packed with vitamins, minerals, palm oil and a bunch of other stuff. Some rat owners swear that it has cured their rats of respiratory infections completely. Though they said it took a month or so and you need to continue giving it to them every day for their life. (A £10 bottle can last almost a year so it's no big deal)
-Make sure he gets a variety of fresh foods every day to give him every possible nutrient he could need. Anything with antitoxins is a big help, you want his body to be a healthy and clean as possible so he can recover more easily. 

But this will work better if you do it alongside giving him his antibiotics. Make sure the vet has been giving you the right medication. You'll want baytril and doxycyline to really nip it in the bud!


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## cervine (Oct 14, 2012)

Raw garlic is good, but it's hard to get them to take it because the taste is so strong. I find that if you microwave it, it cuts the taste a bit and you can hide it in some other food. It has antibiotic and immune boosting properties. Manuka honey or raw honey also has notable antibiotic effects. I also use healx Booster daily and although my rats hate the taste, it's easy to mix into baby food. I don't know how much it's helped, but it certainly doesn't hurt to give it to them so I used it alongside their antibiotic treatment. They're still sneezy but have no other symptoms anymore.

--I give about as much honey as will fit on my pinky to them once a day. I put 5-6 tiny pieces of garlic in their food. And I also give them each two drops of the healx Booster daily.

--I also use echinacea. You want to get the children's kind with no alcohol-- I got mine at Whole Foods and it's actually an echinacea/goldenseal mixture. I give each rat one drop a day for a week, then stop for a week. So a week on, a week off. Some people do 2 weeks on, 1 week off. It's up to you, just make sure you give it a break for a full week.

Lots of fresh foods high in Vitamin A are great for respiratory health. I give my boys a salad daily with things like kale, broccoli, cooked sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, romaine lettuce, arugula, and peas, among other things that are healthy for them.

My boys also suffer from chronic URI symptoms despite several different antibiotic treatments, so I have tried a lot of home remedies. Like your Jimi, they were kept on pine bedding until they were 5 weeks old and I brought them home (not to mention the person was a heavy heavy smoker), so I do think it can affect their lungs forever. Like I said I'm not exactly sure how much they are working because I am still seeing a couple sneezes a day, but they are happy and active so I'm going to keep using them as a preventative measure.


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## JessyGene (Feb 27, 2012)

Thanks guys I will try your suggestions! 
@Jess, Baytril/Doxy combo was the first medicine treatment I tried with him. We also tried Zithromax, and Chlorpalm. The baytril seems to work the best but still isn't enough.

@Cervine, Jimi lived on pine/cedar for the first 8 months of his life, which seems like a really long time. Plus I'm pretty sure he was only fed dog and cat food. I'm worried his lungs will be affected forever


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## JessyGene (Feb 27, 2012)

Oh, and does anyone know of a place to order the healx Booster in Canada? It costs a fortune to ship over the border.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

I would AVOID the garlic as it can cause anemia in rats. Have you ruled out allergies? Have you tried benadryl?


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## zurfaces (Jan 16, 2013)

lilspaz68 said:


> I would AVOID the garlic as it can cause anemia in rats. Have you ruled out allergies? Have you tried benadryl?


thank you for that information i didn't know that. Im a garlic fiend does it have the same effect on humans?


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## urfavrotquack (Dec 18, 2012)

Try putting grape seed oil in their water. It's a natural antibiotic. You can get it at natural food stores. I put 10-15 drops in my guys water.


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## urfavrotquack (Dec 18, 2012)

lilspaz68 said:


> Have you tried benadryl?


You can give rats benadryl? How much? And how?


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## cagedbirdsinging (May 28, 2012)

urfavrotquack said:


> Try putting grape seed oil in their water. It's a natural antibiotic. You can get it at natural food stores. I put 10-15 drops in my guys water.


Do you mean grapefruit seed extract? The two are very different. GSE is effective, but not when administered constantly in a water source.


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## urfavrotquack (Dec 18, 2012)

That's what I meant. I was thinking faster than I was typing. Thanks for catching that.


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## Jess Of TheFatRatChannel (Jan 31, 2013)

JessyGene said:


> Oh, and does anyone know of a place to order the healx Booster in Canada? It costs a fortune to ship over the border.


Well i live in England but i emailed the U.S site and they told me where i could buy it in England so it might be worth a shot contacting them and seeing if they can help you out.


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## cervine (Oct 14, 2012)

Wasn't aware of the garlic anemia thing, I thought that was only onions but it makes sense. Looks like I'll be cutting that out now but I will give the GSE a try.


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