Quarantine

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I just came from the vet yesterday with one of my 7 week old kiddos. I noticed she was dehydrated and had a lot of buck grease going on so I took her in the next afternoon. She is having some early respiratory problems, but we got her started on antibiotics immediately, but the vet did not go into this much detail about quarantining her! She just said I needed to put her into a cage by herself and that she wants her back in 7 days for a follow up. She's been in the same room as the other 13 rats for more than 24 hours since she started her meds. Do I just need to be prepared for all of them to get sick at this point? ughhhhhh.
 
When rats are ill, it will stress them to separate them from their friends and can make them more ill so it is not normally done.

Quarantine is done when bringing in new rats to make sure they are healthy before exposing them to your rats.
It is also important to be aware of so you do not expose your rats to diseases.

Why did your vet want you to keep her in a cage by herself?
If she has something contagious, your other rats have already been exposed
Personally unless there is an important reason, I would put her back in with her friends - she will be happier, less stressed and will heal better

I hope the meds help … if they do not start to help within a few days go back to the vet
When meds do help, then rats need to stay on the meds for at least 4 to 6 weeks

Buck grease? Do you mean porphyrin? http://ratguide.com/health/eyes/porphyrin_secretions_red_tears.php
 
It's day two of the meds and shes quite a bit more active, eating and drinking food, and her skin looks a lot better today.

She said she would like for her to stay in a cage alone while shes healing up. I didn't ask why because it just made sense to me. I'll call tomorrow to get clarification on this. I swear it's like I get a suggestion/instruction to do something, and I think I'm doing the right thing, and then turns out its making everything worse. =( I thought I was helping her by separating her and letting her get some peace and rest until she feels better. Plus the cage is cleaner when she isn't living with 5 other siblings, so I thought that may help her RI. She doesn't seem to be exhibiting any stress behaviors, you can just look at her and tell she doesn't feel well.

I did mention that she'd already been in a cage with her siblings and I didn't see any way to avoid the others getting sick. She said they may not flare up, but putting her in her own cage was just to be safe.

And nope, she did have some prophyrin of course but her skin was dull, flaky and had the orangeish layer. I cleaned her up and it hasn't returned. The vet told me that was a sign of an illness or stress?

I have no clue what to do, here. My vet isn't available on weekends so I can't call her for any advice. I just don't want to encourage a flare up of symptoms in her or ignite them in the others. =(
 
She didn't mention anything at all about it being viral, what's annoying is that when I googled the symptoms for Sendai and things like that, the symptoms are essentially the same as a URI symptom! Ugh!
 
It's likely mico. The others have been exposed regardless of what it is. I'd just put her back with her family, so they can comfort her, and help groom her.
 
Glad I took the advice, you guys. She played and messed around with them for a bit. I haven't seen her eat or drink since she's been in there, but I gave her a syringe with some water before her meds this evening. She has covered herself up with a blanket and is getting some rest. She is not NEARLY in the shape she was in yesterday, so that's making me hopeful!
 
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