Rats killed each other

The Rat Shack Forum

Help Support The Rat Shack Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

jypsyjulia

Active Member
Joined
Jul 17, 2013
Messages
25
Location
Orlando, FL
Hey guys,

So, I'm writing this very, very nervous. I was part of a group that rescued 25 rats from a terrible situation. They were kept outside either in breeding bins or in a teeny, tiny chicken-wire cage. I have no idea how many were there originally, but there were 25 left when we got to them.

12 of them stayed with me for about a week and out of the 12, surprisingly, only one was pregnant. And she bit me. I didn't think anything of it because pregnant rats can get aggressive, I just went to the doctor, got a tetanus shot & took amoxicillin. She never had her babies -- we got her an espay immediately.

Fast forward 6 weeks: I gave her and one other to a rescue to take care of because there were five left of the 12 I had and I kept 3. One other adopter wanted the two, but with my other rats (I have 8 boy rats), I was struggling to take care of 5 very sick rats on top of that so a rescue graciously stepped in to help get them back to health (they had giardia) and then I'd pick them up and take them to the new adopter when they were ready.

Well, I got a call from the rescue saying that the girls suddenly got into such a fight that they killed each other. They tore each other up and the rescue said they'd never seen anything like it. Here's my fear...what if they had rabies? Like I said, I don't know who she was housed with before given to me so she may not have been with my 3 rats that I kept (they're not showing rabies, but I don't know if they were exposed to her). They were kept outside, which means that wildlife would have access to them, and could have been bitten by a bat, which would leave small enough puncture wounds that no one would notice.

There was no way I could have observed her prior to this since she wasn't with me and the rescue is up to their ears in rats, so who knows if they could have seen the symptoms, if she showed any.

What should I do? I'm absolutely terrified she had rabies & that's why she became aggressive and she and her cagemate fought to the death. Please help! Totally freaking out!

Thank you!
 
That is so very horrible :( Those poor girls

A few years ago I helped someone with an accidental litter adopt out the babies ..... she adopted two of the boys to a home that seemed ok and a few months later I found out that the woman found the two brothers ripped apart in their CN .... one was still alive but died a few hours later. They did not have rabies and I have no idea what happened but I always wondered if they had a fight to the death with wild mice cornered in their cage.

I adopted a boy, Christmas, a few years ago. He was part of a large group of rats dumped at an spca. Christmas was terrified of other rats and would attack them and try to kill them - he did not have rabies ...... (and eventually he was able to live with 4 babies who he loved and cared even after the were adults)
 
Have a Rabies test done on both deceased rats brain's, if this just happened and you have access to their bodies. The rescue should be able to provide this service, free of charge, since it would possibly greatly affect ALL the animals they shelter. It passes so easily, after all :( In actually shocked that they haven't taking it upon themselves to require that one is done on both females. While I think the chance of Rabies is certainly possible, but probably pretty low, it's still always better safe than sorry.
 
i just wanted to add some assurances– rabies in small, small animals is devastating, which is why it's so rare. rabies tends to ravage a small animals bodies incredibly quickly. i'm not saying there's no chance, but the chance is very low. still have the test done, but don't stress too too hard !
 
Hi all,

I wanted to give an update.

I went to my doctor and she said that I didn't have rabies, but I was adamant about talking to someone, so she gave me the health department's number. They sent me to epidemiology where I was told that PEP (the post-exposure vaccine) isn't given to people after rat bites, even wild rat bites, because they are not considered a vector for the disease. I talked in depth with the epidemiologist and learned a lot. They were more concerned about leptospirosis or rat-bite fever but when I told them I had gotten a tetanus shot & amoxicillin, they calmed down.

The vet would not do a rabies test because she said she didn't want to charge for something that doesn't make sense. I kind of wish I had pushed on that one, though, and just required the rabies test no matter what the cost.

My own vet said that it sounds like hormonal aggression. He used a lot of fancy words that I didn't understand but I do remember estrogen and that he had seen it before when he used to work with lab rats. The rescue did tell me that the girls had had a few spats here and there before this horrible fight broke out.

I also did A LOT of research and there has never been a rat to human transmission of rabies in the US. In labs, rabies usually has an incubation of 2-3 weeks in a rat when injected in the foot and the rat that bit me had bit me almost 7 weeks before the vicious fight. Rats would likely die if bitten by a raccoon, skunk, or fox due to their small size. The only rabid animal that could potential cause rabies in a rat is a bat, but, like I said, the incubation period is 2-3 weeks. (25 days at the latest, from what I could find.)

Not to mention, I have three girls from that set. They lived in the same cage for about 5 days and ate the same food and drank the same water...so if the rat had had rabies, my girls should be dead or showing some kind of symptoms, but they're absolutely fine.

Actually, most (like 80%+) deaths in the USA caused by rabies (and there's only 2-3 a year) are actually caused by bats because bats do not necessarily leave bite marks so people don't think to report it. But if a bat is ever in your house, even if you think you didn't get bit, get the PEP immediately. Pretty much every single case study I have read in the last ten years about deaths due to rabies have been people who woke up with a bat in their room or in their house and did not report it. (Bats are lovely creatures, by the way, but if they're in your house then something is off.)

Also, apparently when rabies is incubating, it is not contagious. So, if you're bit by an animal and that animal is quarantined for 10-14 days and it shows no signs and doesn't die, you're fine. Apparently the virus has to be active in order to contagious.

However, even with all of those reassurances and even with all of those facts, I still can't help but be absolutely terrified. The CDC will not give me the PEP, even after requesting it, and I can't get it out of my head. I've convinced myself that every headache I have is rabies-related and that if I get a sore throat or a cough then it's the early symptoms and I'm doomed. It's just awful. I can't help thinking, "But what if?" Things like, "But what if the bat somehow bit the rat through the cage and the incubation period was just longer?" or "What if a rat would be able to transfer rabies even though it isn't active in its system yet?" etc. etc. It's been miserable.

But all of that personal stuff aside, I thought I would share with you what I learned about rats & rabies.
 
Back
Top