My pet rat keeps itching herself.....she has scabs all over her face and shoulders?? I can't see or feel any ticks or mites....gave her a bath in anti tick shampoo....cut out alot of the protein in her diet.... nothing works. She likes to pick at herself, she even started picking at my other rat. i had to seperate them! help please!!!!
2007-07-10 15:13:04 · 1 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Rodents
Can they die from this?? does it eventually heal up on its own?
2007-07-10 15:51:38 · update #1
i cut out the protein and fat in her diet. she is only eating rodent block and fruits and veggies and yogurt....and the occasional peanut!!
i gave her a bath in skin conditioning shampoo(it wasn't tick shampoo...my mistake heehee!) and seperated her from my other rattie. her bedding is that corncob stuff.
2007-07-11 17:45:42 · update #2
Most common cause is Ulcerative Dermatitis caused by a bacterial infection from self inflicted wounds from scratching, often from mites (which can be difficult to see) or more commonly from scratching the skin over an inflammed salivary gland. Treatment is clipping the rear toenails, cleaning the sores, and applying topical antibiotic. A vet experienced in pocket pets (not all are!) should be able to help with this. Don't use tick shampoos, they can be toxic.
2007-07-10 15:33:26 · answer #1 · answered by KimbeeJ 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Just some questions to narrow down the possible causes of your rat's hair loss and scabs.
1. What are you feeding?
A diet too high in protein and fat can cause itching and scabbing around the neck and shoulders. Also a diet deficient in the essential fatty acids will give the same results-- scabs. If you are feeding a seed mix-- cut way back-- a balanced diet like rodent block, fresh fruits and vegetables, plenty of water and perhaps a vitamin supplement or better yet, a coat and skin conditioner for pets (pet shops sell a good one for ferrets-- but it smells like fish) would be your best bet.
2. What type of bedding are you using?
Sometimes hair loss, scabs and itching can be due to allergies or contact dermatitis. Cedar and pine are not good bedding materials-- may people use CareFRESH, a recycled paper product. There are other choices that are recommended in the Rat FAQs. However, allergies could be due to many items-- (sometimes food allergies-- although these are not common).
3. Hair loss can also be caused from scratching at external parasites like mites, lice or fleas. Mange is also a possibility-- also caused by a parasite. Burrowing mites cannot always be detected by a skin scraping. You may need to dose with the Ivermectin. Generally, 3 doses separated by a week is recommended. The following is the location of the RMCA Drug Chart--look in the list-- Ivermectin is listed-- dose and treatment.
Ivermectin can be purchased at a feed store for livestock-- brand name Equimectrin-- it is a horse wormer. Using a portion as big as a grain of rice to rats as recommended above is very safe and effective.
4. Another possibility is a fungal infection like ring worm which is common in guinea pigs-- it looks like a bald patch with dry scaly skin.
5. The last and hopefully not the cause of hair loss can be caused by auto-immune problems like Cushings Disease:
"Anipryl is the only drug licensed for use in dogs that suffer from Cushing's disease, a neurodegenerative hormonal disorder of the pituitary gland and hypothalamus in the brain. Dogs with Cushing's disease have decreased hypothalamic dopamine levels and Anipryl works to restore the natural balance of important brain chemicals, especially dopamine, which in turn helps to alleviate the clinical signs of Cushing's disease."
Quoted from:
PETS Magazine November/December 2001
Cushing's Disease & CCD, pg 11
(We haven't tried this with rats, but it would probably be worth asking a vet about!)
Treat with for the most common causes and eliminate the easy problems first. Let rat-help know if this continues to be a problem. It can be very upsetting to see our beloved pets looking so miserable.
2007-07-10 17:25:10 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You may want to take your rat to the vet. If you have other rats, maybe it['s fighting? I don't know about rats too much, but I know in guinea pigs that is a sign of mange mites. Mange mites are microscopic.
2007-07-10 19:51:31 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
She sounds like she may be nervous or have sorda "nervous tick" birds do this also thay will pull out there feathers, you will also catch crazy ppl doin this sorda thing too you may still want to go to the vet though, and its not a bacterial infection
2007-07-10 16:34:28 · answer #4 · answered by Heather H 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋