# Rat sneezing fits with squeaking?



## Sassafras

My rat, a male rat, has been having sneezing fits with *almost* squeaks in them. The sneezes come a few seconds apart and there are about 10 of them usually in a fit. He does it every night, it wakes me up and I am concerned. Just got him last Friday and he is a young one. I have had 4 rats before and none of their sneezing was this bad.

I know it is not mycoplasma flares. I have had a rat that died from what I believe to be mycoplasma and these sneezes are wet. There is also no polyphorin.
I was thinking it could be stress related from coming home recently, but that bad of sneezing? Not possible in my books.
Pneumonia was considered but he is active, fine temperature, and his nose is perfectly dry. 
Could it be allergies? It only happens at night and when he is in his cage at about 12 he starts. Rarely has he ever done it outside of his cage (maybe once or twice, but only a sneeze and not a fit of 10).

So one night I was sleepy but managed to record my rat sneezing. His name is Pascal by the way :3

There is me rustling but right off the bat there should be a squeaky sneeze. There are others throughout the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IIE5GzE62M

Thank you for your help.


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## stephaniechung

It wouldn't hurt to get him checked out by a vet. While he can just have the new home sneezes, the squeaky sounds makes me think it's something else. Rats aren't really like human in the sense that we make noises when we sneeze. Rats, at least to our ears, should be relatively quiet.


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## Sassafras

stephaniechung said:


> It wouldn't hurt to get him checked out by a vet. While he can just have the new home sneezes, the squeaky sounds makes me think it's something else. Rats aren't really like human in the sense that we make noises when we sneeze. Rats, at least to our ears, should be relatively quiet.


I can't bring him to the vet. As much as I love him and I love all my animals. I don't see me shoving money out right now in my financial position. 

Update:
He's sneezing WITH the squeak less now that I took out his 'loft' (a plastic box connected to the cage by a tube that gets really humid) but the normal sneezes are now prevailing. Now he just sneezes a lot. Even when I take him out. 

Are the new home sneezes very frequent? He has a few sneezes maybe every 7-10 minutes.


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## stephaniechung

No creature on earth sneezes that much and is healthy. Your rat needs to see a vet and get a proper diagnosis. It wasn't smart to buy an animal you can't afford to take care of. Just because there's less squeaking doesn't mean that anything is better. Rats are prey animals and they're extremely good at hiding illnesses.You should bring your eat to a rescue and asked them to look at him. If need be, give your rat to them and wait until you're in a better position. It's not fair to your rats that you're sacrificing their medical care. Make sure you tell the rescue that you're bringing them a likely sick rat so their quarantine does not get messed up.


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## Sassafras

Of course every 10 minutes is ridiculous but it's not like I mean it is like a cycle. It's sneeze 5 times in 40 minutes, then doesn't sneeze for awhile. Especially when he is being active or near sleeping he doesn't sneeze.

It's not that I can't take care of it. I do all the necessary things. I've had 3 rats before and I know what I am doing. It's that I am not old enough to go and drive a rat to the veterinary clinic. If I had a nickle for every time I was told to go to the vet I'd be able to go. 

But the observations on him this morning are more positive and he has only sneezed twice in 2 hours.


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## lilspaz68

Sassafras said:


> Of course every 10 minutes is ridiculous but it's not like I mean it is like a cycle. It's sneeze 5 times in 40 minutes, then doesn't sneeze for awhile. Especially when he is being active or near sleeping he doesn't sneeze.
> 
> It's not that I can't take care of it. I do all the necessary things. I've had 3 rats before and I know what I am doing. It's that I am not old enough to go and drive a rat to the veterinary clinic. If I had a nickle for every time I was told to go to the vet I'd be able to go.
> 
> But the observations on him this morning are more positive and he has only sneezed twice in 2 hours.


Lovely. And what will you do when your rat does become ill? Almost all of them do these days.


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## stephaniechung

Sassafras said:


> It's not that I can't take care of it. I do all the necessary things. I've had 3 rats before and I know what I am doing.


^ Says the person that can't tell between allergies and other illnesses.

You initially said financial position was the reason why you couldn't take care of your rat which led me to think you were old enough to drive and such. However, my point still stands that you shouldn't have bought a pet when you aren't able to take care of it. Feeding it and giving it a home isn't enough if you're just going to watch it be sick. The point is you still can't take him to the vet which means in the case where he really is seriously sick, you'd sit there like you are now and watch him die while counting his sneezes. 

If you don't want to hear people to tell you to go to a vet, don't tell us your rat is sick. An animal is sick, you take it to the vet. It's what you do when you have pets. Sorry that you weren't informed but that's what comes with having a pet.

It's not like taking care of a child where you can just go out and buy cold medicine out of a local drug store. Lacking access to antibiotics, there is no way to "just take care of it" and if you had access to antibiotics and knew how to use it, I don't see why you'd be asking in the first place.


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## Sassafras

lilspaz68 said:


> Lovely. And what will you do when your rat does become ill? Almost all of them do these days.


 I know rats being sad is sick. I know that. And I love them all. I try my best to keep them healthy. I'll just love him and make his life as pleasant as possible. I've had a rat with a tumour and a 3 year old rat with megacolon that I did that with. 



stephaniechung said:


> ^ Says the person that can't tell between allergies and other illnesses.
> 
> You initially said financial position was the reason why you couldn't take care of your rat which led me to think you were old enough to drive and such. However, my point still stands that you shouldn't have bought a pet when you aren't able to take care of it. Feeding it and giving it a home isn't enough if you're just going to watch it be sick. The point is you still can't take him to the vet which means in the case where he really is seriously sick, you'd sit there like you are now and watch him die while counting his sneezes.
> 
> If you don't want to hear people to tell you to go to a vet, don't tell us your rat is sick. An animal is sick, you take it to the vet. It's what you do when you have pets. Sorry that you weren't informed but that's what comes with having a pet.
> 
> It's not like taking care of a child where you can just go out and buy cold medicine out of a local drug store. Lacking access to antibiotics, there is no way to "just take care of it" and if you had access to antibiotics and knew how to use it, I don't see why you'd be asking in the first place.


a) Now you are just being malicious. 
b) I have never known what allergies sound like in a rat. So I might as well had asked about it.
c) You can't give me any idea of what it is that is wrong with Pascal, so I would not be insulting me.

Reasons I can't go the vet:
1) I don't have $80 to shelf out for an appointment.
2) Can't drive.
3) We have no small animal vets nearby anyways. Only one that is in not even quarter of the time.

Reasons I won't go to the vet:
1) I have one symptom. Even if all the above were resolved, how can even a trained professional tell me what's wrong with a small creature by sneezing alone?

I do care for my animals and you are in no position at all to tell me I can't. I don't watch them die. I make their life as great as possible and I'm with them until they die. Don't even start making me look like I'm monstrous because I can't drive my rat 4 hours to a vet where I will have to pay $80 just to have them just as clueless as me. If more symptoms appear, I definitely will figure out what it is. 

You can't treat something without knowing what it is. More symptoms means better diagnosis. When I have one symptom which could mean: mycoplasma, stress, pneumonia, allergies, and many others.

And by the way, since you clearly could not notice; the reason I thought it might be allergies was because it was only in the cage it happened.


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## stephaniechung

I'm sorry that I went too far in my previous response. I did not mean to come out as malicious but I'm just a very forward person at times. I apologize if I upset or offended you. I'm just going to say a couple points to clarify on a couple points. 

I was trying to suggest that perhaps your rat has an infection or something but I'm not a vet which is probably why I keep pushing the whole vet thing. With as much as any of us will know about rats, it's always best to get a professional opinion. My opinion isn't really going to measure up to someone with formal training (assuming it's a good vet you're dealing with).

I know it's expensive. I just spent a bit over 500 dollars in my vet the last two weeks on one rat because of also sneezing (granted, my rat had an infection so there was more than that). It's not that I don't know how much a vet appointment is. I just have a firm stance that even for one little symptom or if something seems amiss for a few days, it's worth getting checked out especially since respiratory issues are the most common things in rats and left untreated, it can be the death of them. Plus, initially you had 2 symptoms (the way I counted them): sneezing and squeaking. While I understand sneezing, everyone sneezes and yes, allergies makes people sneeze, my further concern (and why I kept pushing the vet thing) is because of the squeaking.

I wasn't intending to say you don't care for your animals or that you don't love them. If I came across like that, I am sorry that you got offended by it. It wasn't the way I meant it to sound. I'm just saying that part of caring for animals is also being able to afford the vet costs (even if you may not need a vet right now) in the future. It's planning on all the what if's because you may already know, rats can go from lively to near death in a very short period of time.

Again, I am sorry. I'm too forward at times for my own good and it is no one else's fault but my own and I'll admit it when I'm wrong and in this case, I was wrong about how I acted.


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## glider11

Sassafras said:


> Reasons I can't go the vet:
> 1) I don't have $80 to shelf out for an appointment.


If you can't pay for a vet visit, you really shouldn't have a pet. Whether you mean to or not, you are basically leaving the animal to die by not providing proper vet care.



Sassafras said:


> 2) Can't drive.


Couldn't you have someone take you? If you explain to the person that it's important, I'm sure someone would be willing to help you out. 



Sassafras said:


> 3) We have no small animal vets nearby anyways. Only one that is in not even quarter of the time.


Well, just try to make an appointment for the time they are in. Or, some members on here may be able to help you find a vet that is close by.




Sassafras said:


> Reasons I won't go to the vet:
> 1) I have one symptom. Even if all the above were resolved, how can even a trained professional tell me what's wrong with a small creature by sneezing alone?


A trained professional will be able to tell you by examining your pet completely. Also, a trained professional will give you antibiotics, which is what your pet seems to really need.



Sassafras said:


> I do care for my animals and you are in no position at all to tell me I can't.


Not being able to take a pet to the vet, *is* not being able to care for your animals. Vet care is part of caring for your animals.



Sassafras said:


> You can't treat something without knowing what it is.


A vet most likely can tell you what it is!

I don't mean to sound critical and mean, but if you want to have a pet, you have to make sacrifices (money, time, etc) for that pet. I'm not saying that you don't love your rats or care about them or anything, it's just that to completely care for a pet you need to be able to provide vet care, etc. Rats may not cost a lot upfront, but vet care is part of a rat's life and rats really can be expensive pets in that aspect.


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## Jaguar

> I know it is not mycoplasma flares. I have had a rat that died from what I believe to be mycoplasma and these sneezes are wet. There is also no polyphorin.


Uh... what? Myco can manifest in many different ways and no two rats' respiratory infections will be exactly the same. I can't hear much from the video but it does sound like Myco induced sneezes, the squeaks being air forced through congested/blocked passageways. There doesn't have to be porphyrin involved - some rats are so quick at cleaning it off, you'd never even know it was there. 

Best advice is to buckle up and take him to a vet or give him to someone who can. Respiratory infections are incredibly common, especially in new and adjusting rats. They do not go away on their own. That's like leaving someone with strep throat (also a bacterial infection) to heal on their own. If it's new home adjustment sneezes they will clear up within a week, but if they prolong or get worse he will need antibiotic treatment. If you leave it to the last minute and he becomes ill with pneumonia, fluid filled lungs, tissue scarring, etc. it will cost you a LOT more than $80 and a lot more guilt.


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## Sassafras

Jaguar said:


> Uh... what? Myco can manifest in many different ways and no two rats' respiratory infections will be exactly the same. I can't hear much from the video but it does sound like Myco induced sneezes, the squeaks being air forced through congested/blocked passageways. There doesn't have to be porphyrin involved - some rats are so quick at cleaning it off, you'd never even know it was there.
> 
> Best advice is to buckle up and take him to a vet or give him to someone who can. Respiratory infections are incredibly common, especially in new and adjusting rats. They do not go away on their own. That's like leaving someone with strep throat (also a bacterial infection) to heal on their own. If it's new home adjustment sneezes they will clear up within a week, but if they prolong or get worse he will need antibiotic treatment. If you leave it to the last minute and he becomes ill with pneumonia, fluid filled lungs, tissue scarring, etc. it will cost you a LOT more than $80 and a lot more guilt.


I cleaned his cage and there are no specks of polyphorin any where. Squeaky sneezes are gone, and he is only sneezy once or twice a day. Other than that, spent 4 hours outside of his cage and never sneezed once 

I have no doubt what so ever that my pets are happy and love to live in my house with me. There is not one that I think has ever not liked it with my family.

But if you further want to tell me that I am careless and heartless for not taking a rat to the vet with one symptom; go ahead. I care about and I love all animals. And you should be ashamed if you tell me I don't. Just for your foreknowledge.


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## Jaguar

Sassafras said:


> I cleaned his cage and there are no specks of polyphorin any where. Squeaky sneezes are gone, and he is only sneezy once or twice a day. Other than that, spent 4 hours outside of his cage and never sneezed once
> 
> I have no doubt what so ever that my pets are happy and love to live in my house with me. There is not one that I think has ever not liked it with my family.
> 
> But if you further want to tell me that I am careless and heartless for not taking a rat to the vet with one symptom; go ahead. I care about and I love all animals. And you should be ashamed if you tell me I don't. Just for your foreknowledge.


I don't recall ever saying any of those things, simply that there is no way you can justify denying a pet proper vet care when the time comes. Glad he's feeling better but next time you may not get off so lucky, and with rats, there is almost always a "next time", unfortunately.


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## wheeljack

I wonder why on every forum, every time someone is called out for denying vet care when it's needed, the animal miraculously make a full recovery...

OP, it would be a good idea to begin saving for a vet fund immediately. Rats do not sneeze frequently or make squeaky noises unless there is something wrong with them. A single symptom is often the first thing to tell you something serious is beginning and a vet can diagnose that. A myco flare very often starts out as sneezing and I would not be at all surprised if you see the same symptoms again within a short period of time. Until that happens, kindly do the responsible thing and get a vet fund and transportation to a vet in order so your animal is not denied medical treatment when it needs it in the future.


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## stephaniechung

wheeljack said:


> I wonder why on every forum, every time someone is called out for denying vet care when it's needed, the animal miraculously make a full recovery...
> 
> OP, it would be a good idea to begin saving for a vet fund immediately. Rats do not sneeze frequently or make squeaky noises unless there is something wrong with them. A single symptom is often the first thing to tell you something serious is beginning and a vet can diagnose that. A myco flare very often starts out as sneezing and I would not be at all surprised if you see the same symptoms again within a short period of time. Until that happens, kindly do the responsible thing and get a vet fund and transportation to a vet in order so your animal is not denied medical treatment when it needs it in the future.


To some people, a vet check up isn't worth it for a rat. It's the short lifespan combined with the cheap price tag that makes rats as disposable as goldfishes (not that I don't care about goldfish, just an analogy). It's easier to say "Oh my rat is better, it was just this non-deadly-thing-that-I-can-solve-on-my-own. No vet needed here!" than to say "My pet just isn't worth it".

Just as a side note: this isn't a statement criticizing Sassafras. It happens on every rat forum I've been on and I'm just saying a general statement.


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## wheeljack

stephaniechung said:


> To some people, a vet check up isn't worth it for a rat. It's the short lifespan combined with the cheap price tag that makes rats as disposable as goldfishes (not that I don't care about goldfish, just an analogy). It's easier to say "Oh my rat is better, it was just this non-deadly-thing-that-I-can-solve-on-my-own. No vet needed here!" than to say "My pet just isn't worth it".
> 
> Just as a side note: this isn't a statement criticizing Sassafras. It happens on every rat forum I've been on and I'm just saying a general statement.


It happens on my ball python forums too (and they can potentially live up to 40yrs). Some people are just selfish and have to have a pet even though they can't afford all aspects of that pet's care--it's rather pathetic. The short life span is just one of many unacceptable excuses :/


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## Sassafras

Not cured, improved is all. Switching to care fresh instead of aspen just to test his sensitivity.

And yes, wheeljack, I'm selfish, pathetic and my excuses are totally unacceptable. Thanks for your opinion.


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## Kiko

This needs to stop, this is turning from an advice thread to an attack thread. I will lock it if it continues. Please only post things relevant to the topic.


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## stephaniechung

Sassafras said:


> Not cured, improved is all. Switching to care fresh instead of aspen just to test his sensitivity.


I've found Carefresh to be rather dusty so if he starts sneezing with that, try just using some fleece cloth. I've found that works rather well but it's a bit more effort to clean in the sense that you have to do laundry.


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## Sassafras

My mom used cloth for our guinea pigs, and they liked that but it's hard to hide the smell. In general the pigs are smellier, so thank you for the suggestion and I will try it.


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## Kinsey

I agree with what other have said about taking him to the vet. Small animal vet or not, a vet who loves animals should be very willing to help you and listen to you. My vet didn't know what a ZGT was, but when I told him what I knew about it, he tested the lump and it was a tumor. He does work with small animals frequently, but it is mostly rabbits. I am the most frquent rat customer, and I take my mice to him as well.

It sounds like your rat has a URI. A simple round of antibiotics should clear it right up. For me, a vet trip and bottle of baytril is 38 dollars. Exam fee is 30, the baytril is 8. To treat more than 2 or 3 rats I need two baytril bottles or a big one, which still isn't much at all. He will prescribe antibiotics for all of the rats for only one exam fee, since they live in a colony.

It is up to you to take care of your rat, and your responsibility as his owner to do so. The infection will likely come back full force, and you will definitly need to take him to the vet then. It is better to treat it now than to have it pop up in a time of stress or when he is already ill with something else.


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## Sassafras

$80 here just to get the vet to see him. A close friend of mine has a mother who is a vet and I am passing on questions to her; but for now it seems to have gone down.


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## galinfla

My first day here, and this thread totally puts me off of the idea of coming back. As a person who hasn't been to the doctor in over two years, I cannot imagine having the luxury of assuming every sniffle requires immediate medical attention from a trained professional. Isn't the point of this part of the forum to request/ offer advice and suggestions regarding health?

Sassafras, if it _is _the bedding... I recommend giving adult rabbit food (the pellet kind) a shot. It's absorbent, keeps odor down, and it's reasonably cheap. It won't hurt him if he nibbles it. Just make sure it is _adult _rabbit pellets, as the kind for young rabbits is made of alfalfa, which rats cannot digest properly. Also, make sure you're giving him plenty of rat food. Rats don't usually like timothy, but you might have one who does, and rabbit food won't meet his dietary needs. When she first came to our home, Juliet sneezed all of the time! I removed the bedding and she was fine within hours. Now, we just have fabric and rabbit pellets in there, and they have been happy campers ever since.


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## Sassafras

Thank you, galinfla, for your suggestions. The bedding seems to be helping with Carefresh but if he starts acting up again I will definitely try your suggestion.


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## Kinsey

Galinfla, with rats, a sniffle can be a sign of serious problems. A sniffle, left untreated, can mean death. Rats do not get colds the same as humans do, and usually, wheezing/squeaky breathing/etc is a sign of a problem. Most of the time, they are easily cured, especially if caught early. 

My ratties are affected with some awful URIs right now and they started with just sneezing. Overnight they started to sound miserable, and they have since been to the vet. I have them on antibiotics, which will hopefully help them.


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