# Rat Asthma



## WriterRat (Dec 20, 2011)

Had to go for a vet appointment today because of my rats (Ruby) occassionally makes strange noises when she wakes up and after a lot of physical activity. Imagine my surprise to find out that Ruby does not have a URI, like I had expected, but a probable case of rat asthma. 

The vet I had was very knowledgeable about rats (was a former rat owner, too!) and spent a lot of time listening to both my girl's lungs (even though he only charged me for one rat - awesome!). He also made sure to check them out in all the other ways ratties need to get checked and was kind enough to trim nails for me. Surprisingly, rats, like other animals can have asthma, too.

Of course, my vet gave me some tips for helping out during little attacks (dark chocolate, humidity), but it's probably a good idea to get a humidifier. Does anyone else have to do this for their ratties?

And here I was, so afraid it'd be something worse (which none of the symptoms fit)!


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## PorselinKittie (Jun 16, 2016)

*My rat too*

hey there,
so i rescued a couple rats from the spca after two of my boys passed away and I have spent a bunch of money on medication for one of them (treated them both) kept getting this raspy breathing till he would cough and be ok for a bit but then he would get worse again...it's the worst when he sleeps ...the wheezing went away for a while he's on the meds but every time it comes back..so idk if it's a chronic uri or asthma...and i have asthma so i know how he feels tryna breath and it sucks but the meds arn't helping...so maybe he has asthma too


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

Are you using anything at all scented around your rat? Air freshener, candles, smoking, cleaning products that aren't rinsed away? What bedding are you using?


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## ndvangelder (Apr 13, 2021)

I've had my pet rat for a little over a year and a half (got him when he was an adult). About three months ago, he started having trouble breathing. I was not able to get him into a vet (I called every vet in our area to no avail) so a friend suggested changing the bedding from Carefresh (never should have used it to begin with) to fleece liners. I also set up a humidifier. Within a few days, he was back to his normal, active self. Since then, he's had two more bad attacks and both were when I failed to keep the humidifier running. Each time, within a day of getting the humidity back up in his room, he's back to normal. He is getting old, but the humidity seems to help him so much. We live in the desert where it is extremely arid. I don't mind having one room in the house with higher humidity myself, so it works out for both of us! I also bought a true hepa filter and keep it running 24/7 in that room (I keep it on the opposite side of the room as the humidifier). I am also careful not to use anything scented in this room - no candles, essential oils, heavy cleaners, etc. I also keep reptiles in this room, so I am careful around them as well.


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