Please read! This may help save your rattie's life! WORKS!

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Chumleystella

Member
Joined
Jan 30, 2014
Messages
23
Location
Texas
Last week, my poor 1 1/2 year old rat, Stella was losing her balance, having respiratory issues and was having a myco flare up or some kind of infection. I was desperate to help her and didn't want to put her on antibiotics for fear of her dying or being paralyzed. I have a really good friend that's a vet and she told me something interesting that may help. She told me to use an eyedropper to give my rattie colloidal silver and give her zinc supplements because ear infections are caused in both humans and animals from lack of zinc. I had heard this before and until a year ago, didn't believe this to be true, but saw it happen to me. I'm a 30something year old woman who had never had an ear infection until a year ago. I started supplementing with zinc and colloidal silver and it went away in 3 days. I took the silver both orally and in my ear (and the zinc orally).

It's been 5 days since I've been medicating Stella with the zinc and silver and she's almost 100%. I got zinc picolinate and raw zinc, both are in powder form and I sprinkle some on her food and give her some with a tiny bit of whipped cream that she quickly eats. I'm so impressed that I wanted to share this information with as many rat people as I can because it really works. The colloidal silver is pretty easy to give with an eyedropper but my rat usually will spit out half of what I give her, so I put her on a paper towel and wipe her little face after I'm done. I open the little zinc capsules and sprinkle a little bit on their normal food and on the whipped cream I give it to her with- 3 times a day. Don't give them too much, one capsule has lasted me 5 days, so it goes a very long way. Please share this as I truly believe this saved my sweet Stella's life! I never knew this regimen was so good for myco flare ups! I suspect that this will help all infections in rats since colloidal silver is great for killing all kinds of infections.

Also, I don't feed my rats or pets any type of wheat or corn or dairy (except the tiny bit of whipped cream to give them the zinc with). And I've gotten amazing results with my pets. They live very long lives. I give them a lot of veggies, fruit, brown rice- cooked and raw. Nuts, quinoa, green veggies, applesauce and sometimes a little bit of both raw or cooked beef.

Like I said, I'm not a vet, but my friend is and I believe this saved my sweet girl! Hope this helps someone out there. :)
 
Very interesting. They live very long lives? How long?
I'd need to do more research on that. Do you have any links? I also encourage people to speak to their own vets before adding a supplement to their pet's diet.
 
Hi there, yes, I absolutely think people should talk to their vets about supplements and such. However, my vet friend told me that they aren't taught natural remedies in vet school just like doctors in the US unfortunately aren't taught that in med school either. They're just taught about disease and drugs and very little about nutrition at all. But she's gotten so interested in it that she's into homeopathy for animals and has saved countless dogs, cats and rats. I'm so glad she told me about that.

And I don't have any links on hand about this but there is a ton of stuff about how zinc and colloidal silver affects people. I'll try to find some links and post them. I wish there was more research about nutrition for animals, but very little exists because it's not profitable to keep animals from getting sick, rather profitable in medicating them when they get sick. It's also hard to deal with the dosage too since rats are so tiny. So I'm just happy that it helped my girl.

OH! And I forgot to mention that I also give my animals super green raw food powders mixed with applesauce and I add flax seed oil to it. They love that stuff!

And I'm not sure how old my one rat was because she was adopted but I had her close to 4 years. Pretty amazing for a rattie to live that long! My girls now are 1.5 years and almost 1 year old. I unfortunately lost another one on Valentine's Day last year. I'm not sure how old that one was, but probably less than 2 years. That one passed away very suddenly and the vet said it could have been an intestinal blockage or cancer. It was incredibly sad.
 
Here's Stella as a baby. She's in my boyfriend's pocket. Not sure why I can't insert this pic from photobucket. Will keep trying.
 
Zinc is a neuro toxin and can cause serious issues if too much is given. There's no doubt it helps the immune system at lower levels but people have to be very careful not to overdose. Colloidal Silver is something I recently discussed with my vet and I think I will try at some point.
 
Zinc in large amounts can be bad, but obviously, since it is one of the 3 most common occuring minerals/metals in mammals, it's essential for life. This isn't something I made it up, it's a fact and advised by a VET.

I'm not sure where you read that zinc is a neurotoxin unless you're referring to what's in batteries and screws which is zinc carbon or zinc sulfate. I have a chemistry background and could go on about this for hours.

Please be advised, first, there are many types of zinc. As with anything, obviously you have to be conscious of overdose and obviously I have only given my rat a tiny amount only for a week and have watched her like a hawk. Overdose causes loose bowels and vomiting in dogs, humans, rats and other animals but since rats have a flap over their esophagus, they can't vomit... And you can overdose off of any supplement if you take too much. Magnesium overdose also causes severe loose bowels. And calcium, the opposite effect. So again, please be advised. I use zinc picolinate for my rat or raw zinc which is food derived, not a chemical or lab created.. This obviously isn't meant to be given for a long amount of time. I am simply trying to share that it may help save a rat's life because my rat has now completely recovered from the regimen that I used.

Zinc sulfate which is toxic and used an herbicide
amino acid chelates of zinc (which may be a little expensive)
zinc gluconate (which is a good type)
topical zinc (used for some mild skin conditions and cold sores)
zinc oxide (used in some sun block preparations and some creams)
Some types of zinc that are best absorbed include:

zinc citrate
zinc acetate
zinc picolinate

Colloidal silver is pretty amazing, I've used it for years. There is so much information available about all types of nutritional and homeopathic things online. I'm not saying that people should blindly do what they assume works, I'm just saying that there are less toxic options in medical care than standard antibiotics, etc.. It's not wise to go into any situation uninformed, especially when it has to do with the health of a beloved pet..
 
I discussed zinc supplementation with my husband's neurologist and he's the one that told me to be very careful supplementing zinc because it can and does happen that people get brain damage from zinc poisoning from supplements. If you're using human supplements it's very easy to overdose a rat and, by the time they're showing symptoms, it is too late. You have to be careful posting advice like you did and expecting everyone will look up how much can be given safely. It would not be difficult for someone to give a rat too much and cause permanent brain damage or worse.
 
You obviously have to be careful with all supplements. And all doctors, obviously have their own opinions about vitamins, minerals and drugs. As with all vitamins, I don't think a person should constantly take large doses of any of them. That is my opinion. I've even heard of people overdosing on zinc from denture cream if they use too much or constantly, not sure how common it is but it happens. A tube of fluoride toothpaste, if ingested can be fatal to a toddler as fluoride is also extremely toxic in large doses. And as I mentioned it is tricky to give animals anything because they are so small. The same being true with children and humans. And again, I'm simply posting something a Vet told me. Unfortunately they don't make rat supplements.. I wish they did but there is no money in keeping them healthy, only in selling them antibiotics and drugs when something goes wrong.
 
A lot of people supplement with zinc to help get over colds faster... I can easily see it working for rats, too, but I'd be nervous about dosing. Scaling down a dog or cat dose (if there is one?) might work, since the rat's metabolism is so much faster than a dog or cat (similar to how you can give a rat a lot of metacam whereas that would be dangerous for a dog.) The silver is what I'm not so sure about. I know they use (or used to use?) silver drops in the eyes of infants to prevent eye infections, but I've also heard of people consuming too much and being stained. I would imagine you'd have to source this carefully, since apparently you must have the silver ion (not metallic silver) to see any microbicidal effect.
 
Yeah, hard to say about the dosing with anything. I wish there were doses for animals. The silver has to be colloidal and I do give it with an eye dropper. It does work for eye infections and pink eye too since it's antibacterial, antifungal, antimicrobial. I only use this when something is wrong, infection, etc. Have used it twice for my ratties. I only give them a few drops twice a day. I've read that you can take too much and become blue like a smurf! But that's from years of taking it. I myself only use it when I need it also. I have a friend that uses it for her eyes as well in an eyedropper.
 
I read a really interesting article about how to naturally kill fleas, mites and lice on animals. My rat got mites and I tried this and it worked amazingly. http://www.naturalginesis.com/. This was the only thing that successfully worked. It's wonderful! There are several enzyme based products there that have worked on my animals. I also dust their cages and their fur occasionally with Diatomaceous Earth. If you aren't familiar with this, you may want to read about it.

http://www.deq.state.or.us/er/docs/Lowe ... tSheet.pdf

http://www.earthworkshealth.com/How-Dia ... -Works.php
 
This is all very interesting! I have always been interested in learning about holistc methods. Its something that is nice to have on hand, even if its just in case. I think more people should open their minds to it as well. Of course you should always do extensive research before jumping into it, but if you have no other options, you don't have anything to lose either.Thank you for sharing!

Sent from mobile.
 
DE is comprised of 80 to 90% silica. Silica should not be inhaled. "...inhaling finely divided crystalline silica dust can lead to silicosis, bronchitis, or cancer, as the dust becomes lodged in the lungs and continuously irritates them, reducing lung capacities."

I work in the maintenance department at a technology centre, if we go near silica, we need respirators so honestly, I would not use any of that very fine dust around the rats. Rats have very sensitive lungs as it is.
 
Yes, you have to be careful of the dust of anything, including DE. I put a towel over her head if or when applying. DE is basically clay and is EDIBLE. Silica (yes, don't inhale it) is also one of the most common occuring elements on earth. You clearly don't put it into a fan, fall face first in it or snort it.. Although you shouldn't do that with flea powder, sand, or anything that's dusty.

Here is some info about it. I've used DE for years and love it. And again, obviously, you don't want to shove your face or your pet's face in it. Avoid breathing it in.

http://www.deq.state.or.us/er/docs/Lowe ... tSheet.pdf

http://www.earthworkshealth.com/How-Dia ... -Works.php
 
How do you stop your rats from breathing it when you dust it in their cage? Any movement or shuffling the stuff while they walk will kick it up.

I seriously would not use it around rats, heck, I wouldn't use it around my cats and dogs either, nor myself. I've had extensive training through work and silica is not something you want floating around you. And it does lift and float in the air when you shuffle it around.

edited to add:
How might I be exposed to diatomaceous earth?

People can be exposed to diatomaceous earth if they breathe in the dust, eat it, get it on their skin, or get it in their eyes. For example, when applying the dust or when entering a treated area before the dust has settled. Exposures can also occur if products are accessible to children or pets. Exposure can be limited by reading and following label directions.

What are some signs and symptoms from a brief exposure to diatomaceous earth?

If breathed in, diatomaceous earth can irritate the nose and nasal passages. If an extremely large amount is inhaled, people may cough and have shortness of breath. On skin, it can cause irritation and dryness. Diatomaceous earth may also irritate the eyes, due to its abrasive nature. Any dust, including silica, can be irritating to the eyes.
 
More toxic pesticides and flea tick powders are also available that can kill and paralyze pets and kids. People may want to read a bit more about DE because most obviously have never used it or been around it or simply know nothing about it... You don't sprinkle DE in buckets or large amounts around anything. It's not a giant dusty, powdery mess unless there is ton of it or unless you're blowing it in the wind or a fan, but you also wouldn't do that with any powder.. You put a tiny bit in litter, etc.

I appreciate constructive criticism from everyone, but, clearly I'm getting attacked here for posting hollistic options here.

Love and light. I'm out. Thanks.
 
How familiar are you with rats and their behaviour? If you dust them with DE, they will put their face in it and inhale it when they groom. That's why everyone is saying it's dangerous.

You gave crappy advice and when you got called on it you're running away to sulk. See ya.
 
Wow, true brilliance there. How familiar am I with rats? Very familiar. How familiar are you with DE?

I'm not giving advice. I was trying to share experiences of what I've been through with my rats. I'm simply stating there are alternatives to toxic products which many people aren't familiar with. The negativity in this thread alone has reminded me how close minded people. I thought it was worse in the US but I was gravely mistaken. Very sad.

Sulk? No. I just don't understand where the attack came from.

Have a wonderful day. :)
 
There is no negativity in this thread, but you have people who have working knowledge of what you claim to save a rat's life.
We are cautious and will not support something that could in fact be detrimental to the rat with a very short lifespan to begin with.
I'm sorry we didn't embrace what you preached with open arms. Many of us have decades experience with rats, it would be foolish of us to not question your remarkable cure all for rats.
 
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