# Wheezing/sneezing/short of breath



## salvometal (Nov 7, 2010)

one of my male rats has a breathing issue. he doesnt do it all the time, but a lot of the time he makes an almost squeaking noise when he breathes, especially when he eats. It sounds like a problem with his nose, beacuse he sounds very congested and he makes the noise the most when he is eating, like he is breathing in with his mouth and trying to chew.

I took him to the local (and only) small animal clinic and the vet basically said he is probably too fat and its causing breathing problems. yeah, hes fat alright, but I do not think this is the issue. the Vet was very quick to dismiss anything else(aside from the possibility of a tumor in his nose) and obviously didnt give two craps about a rat. sadly, there are no other small animal clinics within a reasonable driving distance, so im not sure where to turn.

ive been putting a towel over the rats cage and turning on a humidifier once a day and hes seemed to clear up a bit, but I can tell he is struggiling a bit to eat, he can do it, but it takes him forever and his younger, much more excited cage mate (who does not have any issues like this) likes to steal his food.

is there any home remedies or anything I can do to try to cure him or at least help him be more comfortable? he is a bit over a year and i know that they dont live long but I would like to at least make the best of it while hes alive. his behavior hasnt changed much aside from aging a little and starting to slow down, so he is an active rat even now, but i can tell its starting to cause him some discomfort.


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## Jaguar (Nov 15, 2009)

unfortunately no, there's not much you can do at home for respiratory issues. sounds like a typical mycoplasmosis flare up/infection, which generally requires antibiotics from a vet to clear up. 

the humidity may help relieve him for a while, but if it sets into his lungs (pneumonia) they will begin to fill with fluid and the humidity will only make it worse, especially if it's a warm humidifier.

a bit over a year is definitely not old - he's at the peak of his life and to let him wither away with something minor like this is very unfair 

print out the sheets at the bottom of this sticky and take it to your vet. it's worth a shot.


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## salvometal (Nov 7, 2010)

Gonna give him a call on monday. I simply cant afford to take him back to the vet and fork out another 50 or so dollars + antibiotics. hopefully i can just convince him to write me a perscription and give it a shot. Since he doesnt seem to give a crap about rats anyway, it shouldnt bother him.


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## Jaguar (Nov 15, 2009)

you should be able to get the antibiotics without having to pay a checkup fee again... though they aren't cheap aside from that, especially baytril. i would guess it will be around $30 if you go with baytril/doxy which is standard.


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## salvometal (Nov 7, 2010)

Jaguar said:


> you should be able to get the antibiotics without having to pay a checkup fee again... though they aren't cheap aside from that, especially baytril. i would guess it will be around $30 if you go with baytril/doxy which is standard.


yeah, thats the rub is getting the vet to do it. he just looked at Nanook like a week ago, but i cannot afford to take him back for him to look at him for two seconds and charge me 60 dollars+the perscription. I already had to cut into my grocery fund to get him looked at, which i dont mind, but id prefer not to have to do again.

Its frustrating being poor as **** and having a rat with a problem. he seems to be slowly improving, does anyone know, is it possible for these things to just go away with no antibiotic aid? I dont think ill risk it if i can help it, but is it possible?


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## smesyna (Nov 22, 2010)

Rats with respiratory infections do not get better on their own, even if they appear better damage is still being done to the lungs. Call up the vet and say he's worse and you'd like to try some antibiotics like baytril or something. Worst he can say is no.


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## Kiko (Sep 18, 2009)

And it's worth a shot, but sometimes members here or Goosemoose can be very generous and mail you extra medicine they have.
It's a stretch but if your rat is sick and needs the medicine and your vet is a dirtbag and does not care about the rat and refuses the meds it's worth asking in a thread, because you never know who is feeling generous..


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

where do you live salvometal? How old is your boy?


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## salvometal (Nov 7, 2010)

I live in Maine, and hes a little over a year.


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