My heater went out on Wensday and all we had were small heaters, we put the rat cage in a warmer room and gave them plenty of bedding a cloth to keep warm because it snowed heavy that night. They both seem to be very tired and less active, one has been sneazing a bit but not bad but a few sneazes here and there and there eyes looked drained. They still go nuts when I give them food and when I take them out of the cage do you think they might have a lil cold and if they do what should I do?
2007-11-24 09:55:40 · 3 answers · asked by K-9Kara 2 in Pets ➔ Rodents
Respiratory infections are very, very common in rats.
They don't really get 'colds' - this is over-simplifying it a bit. Their respiratory infections tend to be bacterial, or at least secondarily bacterial - they can flare up at any signs of stress or getting a bit cold.
Keep a close eye on this. If the sneezing does not go away or it gets worse, I would take them to a vet. Once rats develop pneumonia it can become quite unpleasant and shorten their lifespan quite a bit. You don't really want to leave it until they get to the not-eating stage. It tends to be treated with a long course of antibiotics (at least 14 days), and vets can provide mucolytics to help them breath. Once they have this type of illness, it can recurr throughout their lives and require repeated courses of antibiotics.
I'm not saying the sneezing won't clear up soon, it's just that most of the rats, and mice I've ever known have fallen to respiratory infections, and the rest to tumours.
Chalice
2007-11-24 10:03:28 · answer #1 · answered by Chalice 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
It sounds like an upper respitory illness, get him to a vet asap! URI's are exteamly deadly in rodents. Your vet will be able to get him some antibiotics and help him out.
2007-11-24 10:00:10 · answer #2 · answered by pharfly1 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
It could. I would take it to a small animal vet.
2007-11-24 09:59:37 · answer #3 · answered by Jennifer B 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋