Myco "Hiccups"

[MuffinsMum]

Muffie has had two bouts of 'hiccups' over the past couple of days. The Rat Health Care book says that these are sneezing jags - symptomatic of myco. Having nursed Muffie through her secondary in July, this is not entirely surprising although it still makes me feel so sad for her.

She is only 8 months old. The book goes on to recommend that 'if this behaviour increases, abs specific to myco will gradually reduce the incidence."

Has anyone else experienced this? What would constitute an "increase" in the behaviour?(Would it be many jags per day?) What really are we looking for before deciding to start something?

Thank you!

 

[MuffinsMum]

If it helps, the information in the book is on page 5 (14th edition) in the left hand column near the bottom of the page ...



Thank you!

 

[SQ]

There is contraversity regarding this behaviour. Many say it is normal and is not related to myco, and do not treat it.

I have found that when my rats display this "hiccuping" behaviour,
it will stop and my rats will be fine if I treat with baytril for myco (4 to 6 weeks).
Otherwise, the "hiccups" continue to get worse.
Since it responds to baytril, I believe it is important to treat it as a myco flare up.

I believe that Godmother has experienced the same results when treating "hiccuping" with baytril.

Edit: Personally, I wouldn't treat with an antibiotic after only 2 bouts of "hiccuping".
I would keep an eye on him to see if the frequency increased and if it did, I would consider starting him on a course of baytril.
(not a vet, just speaking from experience)

 

[Fidget]

I'd be careful to watch for other signs of illness, but I've had kids who got periodic hiccups that weren't illness related at all, just a personal idiosyncrasy.

 

[MuffinsMum]

Thank you so much for the insight here - I appreciate your wisdom.

Muffie went down soooooooooo quickly when she got sick - we had 24 hours. Now I feel like I'm walking a fine line between vigilance and neurosis! So I can't tell you how much it helps just having someone with previous experience giving you a bit of direction.

Muffie appears perfectly healthy and active, she's jumping, climbing, using her wheel ... it's just those two runs of hiccups!

We'll keep watching.

 

[Pluie]

Thank you so much MuffinsMum for posting this, I'm currently having the same problem and I'm feeling worried too! But boys are much less active compared to girls and it worries me like crazy .

He's still eating, interested in food and the occasional wrestle with his brother, but he has had this bouts of sneezing, like a sudden wave of hiccups and i can feel the jerks through his body.

It's so amazing how they've wrapped their tails around our minds all the time.

 

[MuffinsMum]

Thank you so much MuffinsMum for posting this, I'm currently having the same problem and I'm feeling worried too! But boys are much less active compared to girls and it worries me like crazy .

He's still eating, interested in food and the occasional wrestle with his brother, but he has had this bouts of sneezing, like a sudden wave of hiccups and i can feel the jerks through his body.

It's so amazing how they've wrapped their tails around our minds all the time.

I'm glad it's not just me! For me trying to learn about ratties has been like learning to be a mum all over again! - (When do you give Tylenol and when do you RUNNNNNN, when is it teething and when is it an ear infection?) Actually it's harder, these little ones tend to mask their symptoms - they don't cry about them!

A month ago I would have thought that hiccups were normal. We've had to change our way of thinking entirely!

I hope you can get your little guys figured out!

 

[Pluie]

I hope I would too! I've gone to the vet twice for this. Am trying to tell myself not to worry as the vet says their lungs sounded clear. I'l just be careful about cleaning their cages as well as any solutions for the floor and such around the area in case its overly scented ! I shift their cages out to clean the room and only move them back in after the floor's fully dried and rid of any chemical smells. (I clean the floors with dettol btw, sometimes I use bleach but i do leave the room ventilated and the rats are only in after the floor is dry and fumes are gone :3)

I can't imagine losing them, I'm pretty sure we'd both weep our :heart: s out! :cry4:

 

[hopefloats]

Rats get hiccups. I have never seen it associated with the myco. All rats have myco a flare up would be sneezing. If that is Debbie D's book you added one more thing of the reasons I cannot stand that woman and her horrible information to the list that grows way to fast. use that book as a litter box liner and find other options to get medical advice from. That woman is a behaviorist and is no way shape or form capable of writing a medical book. Seriously I would not call Cesar Millan for dog health help. Why because being a behaviorist has nothing to do with the medical side of animals.

 

[MuffinsMum]

Rats get hiccups. I have never seen it associated with the myco. All rats have myco a flare up would be sneezing. If that is Debbie D's book you added one more thing of the reasons I cannot stand that woman and her horrible information to the list that grows way to fast. use that book as a litter box liner and find other options to get medical advice from. That woman is a behaviorist and is no way shape or form capable of writing a medical book. Seriously I would not call Cesar Millan for dog health help. Why because being a behaviorist has nothing to do with the medical side of animals.

A physician once told me that when he responded to a paediatric case, he had two jobs to do. The first was to diagnose and treat the child, the second was to reassure, encourage and educate the mother, so that she could go on looking after the child. He had people drive 200km to see him.

I started this thread because information I had received gave me cause for concern about an animal that I really love, but feel that the response to my concern has been to take this thread out for a public execution. I'm here to learn, and thought that the purpose of this forum was to improve rat owner's education, but the surest way to stop people from asking questions is to make them feel stupid, ignorant and inferior when they open their mouth.

May I suggest that if the official position of this forum is to flame Debbie D. and her information, that the board post a very public sticky mentioning that you don't support her and why, rather than people feeling personally hadslapped when they mention her?

I would love to feel reassured about Muffie. I would love to know that I received poor advice, but there may be a kinder, more encouraging way to say that.

 

[lilspaz68]

Its not so much poor advice just not "in stone" advice.

I have had many rats hiccup off and on all their lives, and as long as its silent I just don't worry about it. We hiccup all the time and we don't get sick.

BUT if there's any sounds at all, then you watch it carefully for a possible impending URI, or possibly scarred lungs from prior respiratory infections.

All in all hiccups don't worry me in the least, consistent sneezing is much more worriesome.

 

[MuffinsMum]

Its not so much poor advice just not "in stone" advice.

I have had many rats hiccup off and on all their lives, and as long as its silent I just don't worry about it. We hiccup all the time and we don't get sick.

BUT if there's any sounds at all, then you watch it carefully for a possible impending URI, or possibly scarred lungs from prior respiratory infections.

All in all hiccups don't worry me in the least, consistent sneezing is much more worriesome.

Thank you! Muffie has had a very bad prior resp infection. When I initially posted this I was trying to figure out if we needed to dash for a vet, or if there was something more to just hiccups.

So far it is completely silent, no sneezing, no creps.

Thank you again.

 

[hopefloats]

I did say that hiccups are not a myco flare up...... sneezing and uri's are. The fact that she says that just gave me another reason to not care for the information that she is putting out to the rat community.


It isn't the forums view it is my view. I cannot stand that woman for numerous reason. I do not want to see her horrible information be used on a forum. That is what rat fan club is for. She is old school. To try to give small pet owners the information that she does is very uncalled for. I watched about 5 rats die because of her information of amoxi and a deadly virus.

This isnt flaming but she has a website for her ways. We do not home euthanize, we do not perform home necropsy on our rats, and we do not recommend it for many reason. We also do not suggest amoxicillin for every sickness because that med does not even work on myco flare ups. You have very little reaction time when a rat gets deathly ill. Using a medicine that will not work eats up the time that you had to save the rat. I think you are letting the roll over from the other thread come to this one.

It is hard enough to get the correct information to rat owners. That guide is not a good source of information.

 

[SQ]

To treat or not to treat "hiccups" seems to be a matter of opinion, as is whether or not it may be a symptom.
As Lilspaz68 said, "consistent sneezing is much more worriesome", however, in my opinion that doesn't necessarily mean you shouldn't treat "hiccups".

As Lilspaz68 said, it isn't poor medical advice, just not set in stone.
For example, the dose she suggests for baytril is higher then the baytril dose in RMCA drug chart but it is listed as part of the range given by the Ratguide.
In other words, there is some variation and people or their vets make the best decisions they can with the info. available.

Many take issue with some of her recomendations re things such as habitat - I believe that she uses old standards which are no longer viewed as sufficient by many of us.
Most (incl. me) also take issue with the recomendation re use of CO2, and do not necessarily agree with her on some other things.

My vet has told me that the medical info. in her book is very similar to the medical info he finds on a site for vets.
I consider her book to be a valuable source of information and refer to it often.
The material in her book has made a huge difference over the years for many of my rats by providing necessary information that saved their lives.





































For example, the dose she suggests for baytril is higher then the baytril dose in RMCA drug chart but it falls within the range listed elsewhere by the RCMA.
Her book is the best rat book available and most of what she says is very, very valuable, imo

Many take issue with some of her recomendations re things such as habitat - I believe that she uses old standards which are no longer viewed as sufficient. Most also take issue with the recomendation re use of CO2.
But just because someone isn't perfect or you disagree with some things they may say doesn't mean other things are not correct.

My vet has told me that the medical info. in her book is very similar to the medical info he finds on a site for vets.
I consider her book to be a valuable source of information and refer to it often.