Sneezing blood

My rat Benji (in the avatar) is now 28 mths old. He's never had big myco flare-ups but has always been a bit sneezy. It hasn't really caused any problems though & he's had a healthy life. But tonight just now he had a massive sneezing fit which sounded awful and when I checked him out there was blood everywhere. I can't be totally sure it wasn't porphyrin but it doesn't seem like it. This stuff was too bright and too liquid. I've never had a rat sneeze up blood before but I have had a couple with nasal discharge along with pneumonia which has spelled the end. But Benji seems okay though (emphasis on seems), he's breathing okay and still active and bright-eyed. Has anyone seen these symptoms before? I'll go to the vet tomorrow but of course this happened at 9PM so there will be at least a 12 hour wait overnight.

ALL of my rats have sneezed what looks like blood. It's almost certainly porphorin. When it dries, it will also kinda look like blood. The amount that comes out depends on the health of the rat, and how many sneezes. Sometimes mine will have little Crusties around their nose or eyes. But they groom it off pretty quickly.

Has it been dry where you are? Sometimes the blood vessels will burst in the nose when they sneeze. Keep an eye on him for any other symptoms but hopefully its just a one-off.

lilspaz68 said:

Has it been dry where you are? Sometimes the blood vessels will burst in the nose when they sneeze. Keep an eye on him for any other symptoms but hopefully its just a one-off.

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Hi thanks for the reply. Yes I think it may have been a burst vessel due to the severity of the fits he had. I've put him on a course of Baytril + Doxy to control the myco and he has settled down well. I don't know whether that is thanks to the Baytril or just that he settled down, but anyway better safe than sorry.

Antibiotics take 4-5 days to take effect so it's unlikely it was the baytril at this time.