mites GRRRRRRR!!

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.

Petunia

Supporting Member
Supporting Member
Joined
Nov 21, 2009
Messages
6,126
Location
USA
is there any way to keep rats comfortable, cut down on the itchies, while waiting for meds to treat mites?

I read somewhere about bathing them in olive oil but I think a bath of any kind would be far too stressful and at least one of them is sick anyway

anything else I can do for them?
 
oh sorry, I've got too much on my mind lately, I meant I got the stuff on order already.
I got some suggestions on things to do, so I think I'm all set for now, thanks
 
I hope the meds arrive soon...poor ratties. You should try to develop a relationship with your vet so that your rats don't have to go through something like this again.
 
thanks everyone, yes I've been seeing the same vet for several years and for over a year for the rats, when I first got them the winter of 09

but she's not the kind of vet who will do anything like over the phone, she wants you to bring the animal in and she'll verify what the problem is, etc
she wouldn't just give me the Rx, she's not that kind of vet and probably never will be. She's co owner of the practice and is concerned about lawsuits, overly concerned if you ask me, but unfortunately a lot of ppl are now (concerned about being sued) so she does everything by the book, which says you can't give meds for an animal you've never seen before

she's the only exotics vet in the area though and she is very good.
 
so she does everything by the book, which says you can't give meds for an animal you've never seen before

My vet follows the same rules but after she's seen them once then she has no issue prescribing revo whenever they need it (this goes for my dog and cats too).
 
smilez_n_hugs said:
so she does everything by the book, which says you can't give meds for an animal you've never seen before

My vet follows the same rules but after she's seen them once then she has no issue prescribing revo whenever they need it (this goes for my dog and cats too).

But some vets DO require to see every animal that will be treated, especially if it's not using revo as a preventative measure. What a pain!

If that's the way your vet is, you should be keeping revo on hand just in case an issue arises. Hate to wait for the meds while they're actively suffering!
 
If they are just scratching a bit more than usual, and only have some scabs then I would just wait. Olive oil baths are very messy and the rats don't like them much. It could stress out Puffin too much. If they are infested and raking their sides with their hind claws, and miserable then definitely bathe them in oil. There's a post on here somewhere we can find that explains how to do it. It was Henry's Mum who did this to her girl and babies right everyone?
 
Moon said:
smilez_n_hugs said:
But some vets DO require to see every animal that will be treated, especially if it's not using revo as a preventative measure. What a pain!

If that's the way your vet is, you should be keeping revo on hand just in case an issue arises. Hate to wait for the meds while they're actively suffering!


yes I agree, from now on I'll be sure to have it on hand so this never happens again. The only other rats I ever had with mites had them when I got them.
I am pretty meticulous about freezing everything and cleaning the cages out probably a bit too often (sometimes my girls let me know what they think about that by tanking up on water and marking everything that's clean right away to make it smell like them lol They do so love their own scent)

these guys were stressed out from a move so that's probably why they got them. I read that rats carry mites *may* all the time and they only get out of control and become a problem when the rat is sick or stressed. While I've got one sick rat, one with a tumor and all three were definitely stressed, so I should have been watching for this. My bad.
 
lilspaz68 said:
If they are just scratching a bit more than usual, and only have some scabs then I would just wait. Olive oil baths are very messy and the rats don't like them much. It could stress out Puffin too much. If they are infested and raking their sides with their hind claws, and miserable then definitely bathe them in oil. There's a post on here somewhere we can find that explains how to do it. It was Henry's Mum who did this to her girl and babies right everyone?


yeh there's no way I could bathe these guys (guy and gals, technically lol) They are all pretty stressed out as it is, and are only just now allowing me to hold them for more than a few minutes at a time.

Changing out the cage and getting rid of all cardboard plus the two little wooden huts I had, that has seemed to help quite a bit.

I moved them to a new room that is temperature controlled and one that my cats rarely go in, and that seems to have helped as well.

I've wiped them all down with a hypo allergenic baby wipe, don't think that does much to the mites but it seemed to soothe them.

thanks everyone. I never thought I'd have to deal with these awful pests again, eww!
 
Back
Top