Nebulizer treatments?

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rmn34

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 7, 2020
Messages
96
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What kind of nebulizer is recommended for severe URIs?

Is this one sufficient? That model claims to have a particle size of 0.5 -10 um, but that is an utterly meaningless figure without a statistical distribution.

How does one know if the treatments are making the condition worse?

How does one know if the treatments are making the condition better?

When nebulizing albuterol, how long after the treatment is over should one expect to see increased physiological response?

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I stated giving my little one treatments recently. He does not tolerate being trapped in a gas-chamber enclosure very well, so instead I just blast him in the face with the vapor coming from a hose from the nebulizer while he sits on my chest. When done this way he does not seem to mind.

I have been doing 8ml saline/0.5ml gentocin/0.5ml albuterol as recommended on ratguide.

I can't tell if there is any improvement. His whiskers get moisture on them but past that I cant tell.

One thing I did notice the other day was that maybe 45 minutes to an hour or so after the treatment, his rate of breathing went up to over 200. It has never been this high before. (Average 150-180)

I am hesitant to continue using the albuterol after this happened.

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Does anyone have any experience with nebulizers?
 
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I have only used nebulizers with isotonic and regular saline myself. The increased breathing rate may have been because his heart rate increased. I have used oral bronchodilators before and never found them great for treatment but better for helping with respiratory attack. For medications you have to put in a contained space rather than just a mask blowing in their nose.

A nebulizer for rats should be 0.5-5 microns. pediatric nebulizers are what you need. I got mine from Medex Supply online.
 
How do I know if it is making it better or worse? What should be happening after the treatments that indicate it is helping? How do I know it isn't just adding more liquid to his lungs?
 
Nebulizing is different from steaming which CAN add fluid to already fluid-filled lungs (pneumonia) but is good for congestion. With nebulizing first you have to make sure it's not stressing then out as this can make a sick rat worse. But after that you just follow the treatment and hope it helps. I was using hypertonic saline to help keep lung tissue healthy with rats that had chronic issues like pulmonary abscesses
 
If I try to put him in a chamber he does not like that one bit. He tries to chew his way out and I was worried this would strees him out too much.

So I just attached a hose to the nebulizer atomizer thing, so I can place the compressor as far away as possible, and hold it in his face.

He tolerates this very well.

Don't have hypertonic, I am using Sterile 0.9% Saline Solution. Is that sufficient?

 
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