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Hi there. He's doing well, thanks for asking! I see there's quite a few comments since I updated last so in reply to those also: I did already have him on a course of Baytril + doxycycline which is what I usually do as soon as there's suspected respiratory symptoms even before I see a vet. That...

I think he had excess mucus in his respiratory tracts and was trying to shake it off. He was making a noise too on & off, sounded horrible, like a deep gurgle, as if he was full of fluid, but it didn't actually seem to bother him that much. He's hasn't lacked energy, appetite, responsiveness or...

I don't see how domestic rats that spend their time indoors can be exposed to toxoplasmosis unless they are somehow exposed to cat poo. (Maybe possible if you clean your cat's litter box then pick up your rats without washing your hands first.) I would have assumed they need to be in the wild to...

Has anyone come across this before? One of my rats spends periods vigorously shaking/flicking his head and body for a second every couple of seconds. Like you might if you were trying to shake a bug out of your hair. This goes on for a while and seems to be worse at night. I thought he might...

I'd take him to another vet asap anyway. The symptoms you describe indicate severe pain. He's suffering a lot and needs treatment.

I used to have a lot of trouble administering medications consistently. No matter what I mixed them with they always went off them after a couple of days and would refuse to take them. Finally I figured out that ice-cream works. Especially with doxycycline and Baytril, two of the most commonly...

His balance hasn't improved. I spoke to his previous carer and she said the vet (a specialist) said the damage was already permanent. The antibiotics did clear up porphyrin discharge. He's already 2yo so I guess he'll just live with it. He's much more energetic and lively than when I got him though.

My brother who was living with me got a female rat from a shop for $5.00 back in 2001, a very sweet albino. None of us knew anything about rats & he kept her in his room in a cage that was much too small, by herself and he was a smoker too. The poor thing was self harming after a few weeks...

Okay, thanks. I'll try that and see how he goes.

I just adopted a male rat around 2 years old who's previously had an inner ear infection and because of that he has issues keeping his balance. I haven't looked after a rat with this issue before. All my other rats have had respiratory issues. He did get a course of Amoxicillin at the time to...

True, he wasn't full-on gasping, it just kinda sounded like it to me. I did catch him mouth-breathing a few times when his nose was so blocked he couldn't get any air in that way. I've had one die on the examination table, terrified, gasping for air and I never ever want another to go through...

Thanks. I took him to another vet and in her opinion the infection would have pretty much destroyed his nasal passages by now and she reckoned there was very little chance of recovery just treatment of the symptoms. We considered a steroid injection for the symptoms and injecting Baytril instead...

Hi, One of my rats, Benji is almost 30 months old and has developed severe nasal congestion. He's always been a bit sneezy but never been much bothered by myco but it looks like it's finally caught up to him. He looks and sounds like he's really struggling to breathe. The vet said his lungs...

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...

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...

I had a trio of males until recently. Ari, Benji and Mannie. B & M spent most of their time in one nest box with each other. A would regularly join them but he spent a lot of time in another box too sleeping by himself. Everyday I'd have to change the bedding and clean B&Ms box because it would...

One of my rats is a male albino (Wistar rat), his name is Ari. I took him to the vet for a check up. He's 2yo and weighs 600 grams. I let all my rats get a bit of padding because if they get sick they lose weight so rapidly. But this vet (whom I hadn't met before) said Ari is much too fat and...

I very, very rarely give them mayonnaise, it was just to test if he'd take it or not as they do love the stuff. I do give them dark chocolate baking chips (only real ingredients, no vegetable fats) because dark chocolate helps their breathing and no, after 8 months it hasn't made them fat...

Hi, One of my guys, Ari, is refusing treats: delicious things like chocolate chips, mayonnaise, banana. As far as I can tell he is still eating his kibble somewhat because the bowl slowly empties (he has his own bowl, because he tends to hang out by himself). He's always been quite sniffly and...

He's doing pretty good! Took a while but almost totally back to normal. I think maybe he's just getting old... At least this boy is free of mycobacterium flare-ups, so thankful for that :)