# Pet rat sneezing and gasping for air



## htcfarrar (Jun 14, 2013)

Hello,
I recently purchased a young, male rat from my local pet store. He was completely healthy when I bought him but, after a week, I noticed him sneezing a lot. His sneezing has progressed to gasping for air occasionally. It seems to be getting worse. I gave him a little bit of cooking chocolate and also brought him into my bathroom and turned my shower on so that it would be steamy in hopes that it would loosen any congestion he may have. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!! ???


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## Nathan4d (Feb 17, 2013)

You need to take him to the vets urgently. When they start breathing through their mouth they tend to have a bad respiratory problem 

Check with the place you got him as they may help towards vet bills as you only just got him.

Hope this helps


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## RedFraggle (Jun 4, 2012)

I agree. He needs to see a vet ASAP.

You could also consider whether anything in his environment could be aggravating a resp condition i.e. smoking, burning incense, use of air fresheners, substrate in the cage.

Hope he gets better soon.


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## DustyRat (Jul 9, 2012)

Avoid wood chips for bedding. That happened to me when I got my first rats. Use a paper pellet type of bedding such as 'Yesterdays News" by Purina.
Any update on how your rattie is doing?


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## htcfarrar (Jun 14, 2013)

Thank you everyone for your helpful advice. I put him on antibiotics and moved him to a warmer place and he has improved a lot. Since I did this, I haven't noticed him sneezing or gasping at all. I actually do use that same Purina bedding for him so I bet it wasn't connected with his bedding. I also do not smoke or have any incense/scented candles burning ever. I hope that this isn't something genetic. He actually was a "feeder" rat if that provides any background to why he might have had this sickness. Thanks again so much!!


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## Mousey (Oct 23, 2012)

What antibiotics is he on? Has the gasping completely ceased? Rarely do antibiotics alone solve the gasping - gasping is rather advanced and severe, I would be suggesting nebulizing at that point.
It probably is connected to his genetics and the way he was kept before he came to you - which is very common with pet store rats. How lucky it is that he found you! ALL rats (besides a few fortunate laboratory strains) are born with a bacteria in their lungs called Mycoplasma pulmonis - that actually acts more like a virus - this bacteria is aggravated by stress, ammonia from the urine, dust, and other factors from their environment. Some rats are able to deal with Mycoplasma throughout their lives rather well, while others struggle with it throughout their lives and sometimes eventually develop chronic fibrosis of the lungs. It's important to understand Mycoplasma as a rat owner! Hopefully he continues to improve from here. Keep us updated.


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