Respiratory Disease - Urgent!!

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maria-mar

maria-mar

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 22, 2009
Messages
561
Location
Portugal
I have two seven month old male rats who are brothers. One of them, my pretty alpha Fivela, was sick a couple of months ago, with a respiratory issue diagnosed by the vet as apnea. He basically couldn't breathe. After some time of quarantine, antibiotic, analgesic and serum, he was cured successfully.

Now he's brother, Botão, is showing the following symptons: heavy breathing and wheezing, lethargy, severe breathing difficulties, dropping a whistle when he inspires. Seems like another respiratory issue :(

Problem is, i won't be able to take him to a vet until Monday. I don't know of any vet avaiable on Sundays.
So what can i do to make him more confortable until then? Is there anything i can give him to make him feel better? Should i put him in a different cage, separated from the other rats? It's a torture watching him like this :doh:

Please help?
 
Oh man... we are stuck like that too, no vets on weekends. It's always so hard. Keep him warm and fed and hydrated. I wouldn't separate him, don't want to cause him anymore stress. Do you have children's motrin? That might help as well.
 
Thanks, i'll follow that advice.
I don't know if we have that medicine here... i'll ask at a Pharmacy. What dosage should i use?... I'm reading about Motrin now.
 
Botão weights exactly 500 gr, i checked recently. I can convert it to pounds if you need!
I don't know about the concentration, as i will have to wait for the Pharmacy to open and search the med :(
Thanks so much for the help you both :cuddle:
 
maria-mar said:
Botão weights exactly 500 gr, i checked recently. I can convert it to pounds if you need!
I don't know about the concentration, as i will have to wait for the Pharmacy to open and search the med :(
Thanks so much for the help you both :cuddle:
Click to expand...

500 grams is perfect

would you get the same brands of meds here as we do? Motrin, Tylenol, Advil?
 
It looks like the norm for infant drops is about 40 mg/ml

and childrens's liquid is 20 mg/ml

so I will work out dosages for both so you are good to go as soon as you get it home.

Infant = 500 gram boy - 20 mg/kg - .38 cc every 4-6 hours

Children = .78 cc every 4-6 hours (they usually like it)
 
Thanks for the advice, I will try to find any of those. I searched on the internet and at least Mitron is sold in Portugal.
I can come here tomorrow after the Pharmacy's opened (it's Friday night here atm) and tell you what i found :nod:

Botão slept all day, but now i put some hay on their cage to confirm he's cozy and warm, and he's all active checking the hay and playing with it (although he never really plays, he's the serious type XD). I'm happy that at least he's active, maybe he does ok until Monday ^_^
 
I just got back from the pharmacy and Mitron is no longer avaiable here :doh:
Couldn't find any of other medecines you talked about either, so i got Brufen, a children medicine i used to take as a kid.

This is the composition:
The ibuprofen concentration is 20 mg/ml.
It also contains sucrose, sorbitol, and parabens, i wonder if any of those are bad for rats?
 
maria-mar said:
I just got back from the pharmacy and Mitron is no longer avaiable here :doh:
Couldn't find any of other medecines you talked about either, so i got Brufen, a children medicine i used to take as a kid.

This is the composition:
The ibuprofen concentration is 20 mg/ml.
It also contains sucrose, sorbitol, and parabens, i wonder if any of those are bad for rats?
Click to expand...

It's fine, but how is he feeling now? Do you think he needs it?
 
His breathing is not so noisy now, but he was whistling all night, i could hear it from my bed on the opposite corner of the room :(
I'll be careful to notice his activity and maybe give him only if he gets worse?...
 
maria-mar said:
His breathing is not so noisy now, but he was whistling all night, i could hear it from my bed on the opposite corner of the room :(
I'll be careful to notice his activity and maybe give him only if he gets worse?...
Click to expand...

when you are sick and congested at night, that's when your breathing is the worst. When you start moving around it seems to "move" or "drain" a bit and its not as bad. It sounds like this for your boy. I would hold off on the ibu for today and see how he does :)
 
That makes sense! He's taking a nap now and the whistle sound came back, so it really confirms what you're saying.
Thanks so much for the help, your experience is really valuable for someone who's only a seven month rat owner :cuddle:
 
I couldn't go to the vet yesterday after all, but i just got back from there now :D
Botão has a pneumonia, the vet prescribed him baytri and quarantine.
He's doing fine though, he's eating well and he's still very active. I'm sure he's gonna be alright :bunnydance:

Thank you so much to everyone who helped Botão ^_^
 
I don't at all like that your vet keeps telling you to separate the rats. The others have already been exposed, and separating them will only cause Botão stress if they are happily living together.
 
I think it makes sense, since stress is not so dangerous as pneumonia. A longer exposure makes it more easy for them to all be sick.
 

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