# chronic URI in young adult rat



## giraffevacuum (Dec 6, 2016)

hi all! i'm looking for a little advice about one of my rats. i have a six month old albino boy rat who has had a chronic respiratory infection since i got him (about two months old). he is a rescue rat (last of litter i believe) so i don't have any medical history about the parents/other littermates. since then he has been on a number of different antibiotics and medications, including multiple extended rounds of baytril (without doxycycline since he was so young when they started and the vet didn't want to bombard his little immune system) as well as a constant prescription of a bronchodilator and one to reduce mucus build up in the lungs and nasal passages. unfortunately nothing has really worked permanently. the wheezing and porphyrin will go away for a little bit, but come back towards the end of the round of antibiotics/after the round is finished. his appetite and energy are normal- he's always been a lover boy and would rather cuddle with mom than play with his brothers- and he hasn't lost any weight or does not appear to be much smaller than the rest of his brothers. the only real symptom is chronic wheezing. there have been a few occasions where the wheezing has gotten so bad that i was afraid he was going to die, but then he sneezed and his breathing returned to normal. i am using care fresh bedding and the rats are on the oxbow adult rat diet. there is smoking in my house, but not in my room, to which i keep the door closed at all times. i do have a broken, drafty window that i am trying to fix with layers upon layer of blankets, as well as a space heater sometimes to combat the cold. unfortunately my house is dark and drafty and not the best environment for rats, but i'm in college, so i have to work with what i've got. if anybody has any tips, or any more questions about the rat and his lifestyle, feel free to post below. i'm not a new rat owner either, but these are the first boys i've had entirely on my own (the previous rats were childhood pets) so i'm a little lost. i am taking him to another vet in the next week for a second opinion as well. please let me know if you have any idea as to what could be happening here with my precious dum dum! 







(sideways picture of dum dum hanging out in my sweatshirt pocket)


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

The drafty window and smoking in the house are certainly causing or at the very least worsening the symptoms. Even if there is no smoking in your room the smoke goes though the AC system and ends up in your room all the same. You could get a HEPA cleaner which would take care of that and/or put a better air filter in the furnace/AC system. You could fix the window with stuff you find at stores like Home Depot, sorry not sure how it is called but an employee would be able to help you if you explain it to them or show them pics of the window...the drafty window might also encourage molds in your room which could also worsen the problem. How cold is your room? Do you know the humidity level?


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## giraffevacuum (Dec 6, 2016)

there's no central air so i'm not super worried about the smoking, however i do see your point. my room is probably around 55-60 degrees, maybe 50 at it's worst. (that's in fahrenheit, not celsius, i'm not sure if this is a world wide forum or not) i don't know the exact humidity level, but it seems to be fairly low- our house is usually fairly dry which is nice. my boyfriend does have a humidity gauge however, so maybe i'll check that this weekend.


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

That's very cold! Rats don't do well with temperature variation, try to keep the room at a CONSTANT temperature around at least 60F and no huge temperature fluctuation throughout the day/night.


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## giraffevacuum (Dec 6, 2016)

i did get them one of those zoo med heating pads, i just don't know how to mount it because their cage is metal bars and i'm afraid they'll heat up and burn one of my boys. would that help maybe, if i figured out how to mount it? i was thinking i'd screw a wooden piece on the outside of the bars, and mount it to that?


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## Miss_Rattie (Jul 5, 2016)

I had a rat who started with a URI at six months old - it turned out to be a chronic URI and she ended up for the rest of her life on antibiotics. She lived until 2 1/2.

If environmental changes don't help, then I would recommend baytril with doxy. My rat had the combo from being six months old, which worked great, and I just altered the dose as she increased in weight. I had no problems with resistance and she had the antibiotics twice a day for two years. I managed to get a repeat prescription from the vet and took her for check-ups every three months. I also had a decongestant, bisolvin, which works very well but I don't know if is available outside the UK.


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## giraffevacuum (Dec 6, 2016)

awesome, i'm so sorry that your rat had to live her life with a URI, but it's really comforting to hear that it is possible. i've kind of accepted the fact that he's always going to wheeze, i just didn't know if it was possible for a rat to survive that. i'm mostly worried about it turning into pneumonia because of how cold it is in my room, and he doesn't seem to be miserable or suffering because of the wheezing. it's just hard to tell with the little animal friends sometimes.


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## Miss_Rattie (Jul 5, 2016)

My vet has told me that noisy breathing/wheezing could be a result of lung scarring. So it is possible that the URI may be cured but you may still hear wheezing.

My girl with the chronic URI was fine most of the time, but every so often it seemed to flare up for a few days and then settle again. So, I do think that it is possible to manage the URI long-term with no problems, once you have the correct antibiotic combo and dose. I would work with your vet to try and get the best combo and don't rush to stop using the antibiotics, and be prepared to use them long-term if needed.

With the cold, I would put extra bedding for your rats to snuggle. My ratties just seem to build a huge nest if it is cold, so I always make sure that they have lots of bedding in winter. I just use newspaper for bedding, as there is no dust and they love to shred it.


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## giraffevacuum (Dec 6, 2016)

that's a great idea. i've been using fleece, and i never change it quickly enough before it gets soaked in pee. they've been so cute lately- i set up a space heater outside the cage for them- all four of them will make a rat pile in front of where it blows.
i've also kind of assumed that i'm going to have to deal with this long term seeing as the vet called in a year's supply of a bronchodilator for me. he used to like licking it straight from the syringe but lately i have to shove it down his throat, and that actually tends to accentuate the wheezing for a bit until it kicks in. hopefully it is just scar tissue and can be managed with long-term medication.


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## thepumpkinrat (Oct 30, 2016)

Not sure how accurate this is, but I've heard that carefresh is actually really dusty. 
What does your cage look like? Heating pads can be a pain with mammals because of the exposed wiring, you wouldn't want your guys to get a hold of that. So I'm not entirely sure where you could place it where they can safely use it. My snake has a large heating pad that goes on the underside of her tank that she uses to aid in digestion/keeping warm, so I wonder if there's a way to set it up in a similar way for rats. I'm assuming if you had some type of critternation cage that you could place the heat pad on the underside of the bottom cage level, and see how warm the other side gets (so they don't get burned) You could also try getting a warm water bottle and wrapping it in a blanket or towel for them to snuggle with. 
I currently have a rat who seems like he's going to have a URI for the rest of his life, he's been sick on and off since I first got him. (he's 8 months now) and is still having trouble no matter what I seem to do. Make sure they're not near any drafty areas, candles, perfume, etc. I've also heard that humidifiers can help rats with chronic respiratory issues. Good luck with your little cutie.


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## thepumpkinrat (Oct 30, 2016)

Not sure how accurate this is, but I've heard that carefresh is actually really dusty. <br>What does your cage look like? Heating pads can be a pain with mammals because of the exposed wiring, you wouldn't want your guys to get a hold of that. So I'm not entirely sure where you could place it where they can safely use it. My snake has a large heating pad that goes on the underside of her tank that she uses to aid in digestion/keeping warm, so I wonder if there's a way to set it up in a similar way for rats. I'm assuming if you had some type of critternation cage that you could place the heat pad on the underside of the bottom cage level, and see how warm the other side gets (so they don't get burned) You could also try getting a warm water bottle and wrapping it in a blanket or towel for them to snuggle with. <br>I currently have a rat who seems like he's going to have a URI for the rest of his life, he's been sick on and off since I first got him. (he's 8 months now) and is still having trouble no matter what I seem to do. Make sure they're not near any drafty areas, candles, perfume, etc. I've also heard that humidifiers can help rats with chronic respiratory issues.


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## giraffevacuum (Dec 6, 2016)

I do my best to try and shake out the dusty before putting it in their cage, and i'm also not super worried about it because their cage has such great ventilation. I currently have them in the single critter nation. I was originally going to mount the pad on the metal bars beneath the plastic tray, but I hear they can get to be like 150+ degrees and I worry about the pan getting kind of melty. I haven't tried it out yet- just haven't had time to plug it in for 8 hours to see how hot it gets. but yes of course, the wiring would be taped away where the rats can't get to it. 
I guess I kind of needed to know that other owners have dealt with a chronic URI in their rats, and that the rats can still live meaningful lives. I don't think tweedle dum is suffering, and I hope your ratty isn't either


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## giraffevacuum (Dec 6, 2016)

I'll also look into getting a humidifier. even if it doesn't work for them, it'll probably help me breathe better at night at the very least.


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## thepumpkinrat (Oct 30, 2016)

I've heard of quite a few rats that can live with chronic URI's, but usually with medication for their entire lives. It always makes me feel better that some of them can live with it. I'm sure with the right care that your little dude can make it, too.
I wonder if you can somehow attach the heat pad to a tile, and attach the tile to the pan so the heat pad isn't directly on it? Maybe a smaller heating pad would get to a lower temperature. I actually found heating pads online specifically for small animals. They also sell covers for them, probably to help with heat? The cords look really thick compared to the ones meant for reptiles. (which also get hotter because they're for cold blooded animals)


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## giraffevacuum (Dec 6, 2016)

update: I took my wheezy boy to a different vet for a second opinion. this guy has been treating exotics for over 30 years and he really knows his stuff. he told me that when he listened to my rat's breathing that his lungs were totally clear and that the wheezing was actually coming from a stuffy nose (when he sneezes it sometimes sounds super wet and changes the pitch of the wheezing) tweedle dum is now completely off medication and doing just fine! the vet told me that unless he was open-mouth breathing, or losing weight or energy, I should keep him off antibiotics so that he doesn't develop a tolerance and render them useless in case he actually develops a dangerous URI. looks like I've just got a little wheezer, and i'm so glad to know that he's going to be okay. thank you for all the advice!


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