Labored breathing/wheezing/sneezing Please I need help!

I have 2 boys named Ripley and Deacon. As of today, they're exactly 9 and a half months old.

It's 3am my time so if some of this seems incoherent, I am so sorry. I'm trying not to have a melt down. This is going to get long so I'll highlight the symptoms and environmental factors incase you want to skip to that, completely understandable, I tend to babble when I'm panicking. Sorry!

I was about to go to sleep a little over an hour ago when I walked into my room and noticed my sister's kitten pestering the rats in the cage. She's done this before when someone walks into my room and forgets to close the door and usually my rats just sleep in there hammock but sometimes they run up to the bars and nip at her.

Usually they "huff" at her to go away so once I booted her out and heard a small noise from the rat cage, I just wrote it off as huffing and figured they'd settle down. I waited 15 minutes on the other side of the room before I went into panic mode and took out both my boys to listen to them. Deacon doesn't have audible breathing, Ripley is breathing LOUD and it seems labored like he's wheezing. I've also noticed him sneeze a lot. Sometimes it even sounds like he tries to "cough".

Deacon and Ripley are both sleeping in the hood of my sweat shirt now because I cannot sleep. Just hearing him try to breath like this breaks my heart.

Now that they're kind of resting, I can't hear the wheezing and he's right next to my head. I don't know what that means or if that makes a difference, regardless I'm packing both of them to the vet tomorrow or the day after if they can't fit me in.

I just wanted some insight on a) what to expect, b) if this is a common problem, c) any ideas what it is or could be and how to treat it, d) should I even wait until morning? Should I just pack them in the car and find an emergency clinic that would treat him right away? e), should Deacon be treated for whatever it is since he's Ripley's cage mate?

He's not choking, their's nothing in his mouth. I have seen him drink.

2 nights ago, Lane (boyfriend) gave both rats a piece of chocolate that was almost like a crunch bar type thing. He said he gave them about the size of a pinky nails worth of chocolate to each.

Earlier today I set aside some cup-o-noodle (few noodles, carrots, peas, and broth) and froze them in a small cup. I've given them noodles and carrots and peas out of one before but never broth. After I froze it I thought about how much salt is in one of them so I put some water in there to try to dilute the broth down and now I'm scared I made him sick giving the boys that.

Not sure if the above are things that could cause this (and I hope that's not a stupid question) but I wanted to add that (and a lot of this) to make sure if anything was a factor in causing this or could help determine what this is, it's included incase it helps.

Their cage is clean, I literally just cleaned it earlier that day. They have fleece bedding with lots of little fleece shreds to burrow and cuddle up with. Both hammocks are made of fleece. They haven't been around any pine or cedar (my boyfriend works at a lumbar mill and as soon as he gets home he takes a shower and his work clothes go into the wash machine). Their cage isn't covered with anything so the air is circulating.

Please, any advice is greatly appreciated! And again, sorry for making it so long!!

Chances are it is an Upper respitory infection. They can come on with no warning but he will need abs to help him through it. He will need doxy and baytril at least to be get past it. Keep him hydrated and eating till you can get him to the vet but I would try to get him in soon.

hi Ripley needs to see a vet, sounds like a respiratory infection
you can find more info here:
http://www.ratshackforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14212

these are sadly very common in rats and it's doubtful that anything you did or didn't do brought this on. do you have a good vet who is experienced with rats?

how is you your boy doing this morning?

I agree, most likely a respiratory infection. I'd get them to the vet and get them on Baytril and doxy.
BTW, it's great that you give so much details, all information can be relevant.

He's been sleeping so I don't hear much from the cage but I will definitely try getting him to a vet today. Thank you so much for your help! He's snuggled up with Deacon in one of there hammocks. Should I have both of them treated since Deacon was exposed to Ripley?? Thanks again for your help!!

Hi, any updates on your boys?

Treating both isn't really necessary unless they both have symptoms. URIs in rats are caused by a bacteria called mycoplasma pulmonis, and all rats already have it. When their immune system gets weakened for some reason, it can "flare"up into an infection, but the infection cannot be transmitted- only the bacteria, which nearly all rats already have from birth.

You will need to have him on the baytril and doxy for at least 6 weeks most vets will not know this and only put them on it for 7-10 days that will only knock it down and seem to clear it up.

dspch911 said:

You will need to have him on the baytril and doxy for at least 6 weeks most vets will not know this and only put them on it for 7-10 days that will only knock it down and seem to clear it up.

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I would say the minimum is 3 weeks, but most would recommend 4-5 weeks. With your baby already being this bad, I would say 6 weeks, too, depending on how he is improving.

Aida said:

I would say the minimum is 3 weeks, but most would recommend 4-5 weeks. With your baby already being this bad, I would say 6 weeks, too, depending on how he is improving.

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I would never go less than 4 weeks, 6 weeks to be safe. Besides if your anything like me you need the 6 weeks worth because you are going to spill some.

Thanks for all your help! We took both of them to the vet for two seperate appointments just to be on the safe side.
Both had Upper Respiratory Infections and were put on Trimethoprim-Sulfa Oral. The doseage is 0.4mL twice a day for both of them.
They also have "Minor Malcclusion" so I'll be keeping watch on their teeth. They now have more chewable toys but any other homemade ideas you guys use for yours is welcome!!
The vet also told me that my boys are hams. Deacon is 1 lb 6oz and Ripley was 1 lb 2oz. They don't look obese, more like slightly chubby. But I guess it wouldn't hurt to lay off the treats.

They're doing much better, the malacclusion threw me off a bit but the vet told me to put more chew toys in there and keep watch. Any ideas?? And I was just wondering about the medicine, I was expecting baytril and doxy because that's what I was given when I got them as babies and they were sick. Does this medication work just as well?

Give the meds about two to three days to show improvement in them. The sulfa isn't usually the first med used for upper respiratory, but if it's going to help, you should see less noise, easier breathing, etc. within 48 to 72 hours. If you don't and things don't improve, or get worse, then you'll need to call your vet and explain that this particular med is not working and that you'd like to put them onto doxy and baytril for the six weeks. You shouldn't have to have another appointment for this, given they've just been seen; the vet should be able to fill the prescription for pickup, although some vets will insist on a 're-check' appointment. Bring in some printed out information on pet rat health/respiratory issues and meds used so that your vet can take a look at this info and keep it on hand. Usually, the antibiotics do the trick in clearing these respiratory issues up and need to be used long enough to really kick the infection. On occasion, there may be a need for an anti-inflammatory, and if it goes into lower respiratory, things like bronchodilators and diruretics; but you probably don't need those. I hope your little boys respond well to your current meds over the next few days. I'm sure they'll be okay. You are doing well with them; try to relax. I know how easy it is to worry over our little ones, but all you can do is your best, which is what you're doing. I'd put a sign on your door saying 'Keep cat out; keep door closed' to remind people to do this.

Thank you for your reassurance and all your advice and all help!
Both boys are improving a lot. It's hard to just calm down and breath when you know they're is something wrong with them and the fact that it affected their breathing just made it a lot harder.
I told everybody in the house about not giving the boys so many treats and my younger sister (she's almost 8) helped me make a a sign for their cage and for the bedroom door so people don't let the cat in.
It's scary moments like that that really makes me realize how much I love this community because you guys understand that my boys aren't "just rats", they aren't replaceable. My family is starting to get it but I still get the snarky comments of "They're like 10 bucks at the pet store, just get more", I can't tell you how many times I've wanted to smack someone over that.
It's really nice that I can come on here and look for advice and help and get support when they're sick. Thank you from the bottom of my heart :heart::heart:
You guys are amazing!

Good to hear your guys are getting better.