SDA - Here In Ontario (What you need to know)

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lilspaz68

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 21, 2007
Messages
24,427
Location
Toronto, Canada, Earth
Well it looks like we are having a problem in Ontario at the moment, the formerly rare and highly contagious viruses are spreading. Sendai made a round 3 years ago and then disappeared probably because the people affected were responsible enough to shut down and not further the spread of it in the rat community. Unfortunately with all the facts lately, its starting to look like there's a big BYB or a rat mill supplying the stores towards the east of Toronto. My guess is that they have SDA in their mill and are churning sick rats out into the public. Rat mill owners won't care if the rats could infect your rat, they just want the rat alive when it hits the petstore so they can get their money. For eg. Petsmart's rats all used to be the highly saleable high white rats, but I am sure they figured out that a lot of the babies contracted megacolon and died even before making it to the store or died soon after arrival so they wouldn't get their fee per live rat...it ended up being unprofitable so the blazed rats were changed to pretty minks, pearls, and pearl merles.

Ideally when bringing in a new rat you should quarantine them at a different location than your residents, a different airspace, for at least 2 weeks. If they are still well at the end of this time you can bring them home. If they end up sick, you treat them and once they are better you start the QT (quarantine) again. With the contagious viruses soo rare in Ontario, and me not having any foster or QT homes available to me, each time I take in a new rat is a calculaed risk. Now that might have to change. I advise all pet owners to know the risks and if you are able to perform proper QT then do it! A totally different airspace/home with no other rats there. If you visit you have to go through the after-visit protocol of 3 hours away from your rats or the shower, change clothes, blow nose deal....every time. If you are unable to qurantine then be very aware of the symptoms and be prepared to put all rats on antibiotics and go into a lockdown that lasts months. We were a lot like the UK here where they didn't quarantine because of the lack of viruses in their country, but sadly they have been invaded as well.

Lilspaz Hospice has been afflicted with SDA again, in just a few short months after the first bout, and is shut down. The only good thing is that there's only 16 rats here that were never exposed to the initial virus so the others should be immune. The not so good part is that some of those original rats were damaged by the virus and will be pretty much have respiratory flareups all their lives.

I will answer questions in here, help you figure out what symptoms to watch for, and how to get through this terrible virus. Just remember that time is of the essence to help save your rats, recognizing what you are dealing with, locking down so it doesn't spread, and getting everyone with symptoms on antibiotics.

SDA Oubreak 1 in early February started with a tiny little girl bought from a nasty Oshawa pet store to be a friend for sickly little Chilly. I didn't realize that Bella had been bought only a few days prior to me getting her and Chilly home. Chilly had been sick for weeks, and Bella had a mild URI. About a week later, my rats started to become affected, Yara was first, then others...I lost some older rats that were ailing, but only when extremely healthy 17 mo old Samson died did it click in my head. At first I thought I had Sendai virus, and for 2 weeks while medicating, it seemed to be a milder form of it than I remembered from 3 years earlier and I was thanking my lucky stars. I had seen a swelling on one rat's throat but it wasn't much so I dismissed it, then another one showed up, and the facial swelling and ocular issues reared their scary heads as well...this is when I realized I had SDA. :sad3:

Ocular issues and facial swelling on Adella (note the sclera showing in the corner of her poor eyes)



Poor Ophelia, hers were even more affected. Untreated rats have been known to scratch at their eyes damaging them badly. Which is why I use metacam and eye drops/ointment to help their poor eyes, with pain/swelling and dryness.



With SDA Outbreak 2 I took in a little lass from HH , but she arrived with a lump in her throat. She was pretty much unhandleable for the rescue owner and she was the last sister of a group of siblings that Nic had adopted in late February. So the plan was to adopt her but she needed to come here to catch the transport. Once scared little Bunny arrived and I found the lump on her throat, we all went into lock down and watch/wait. I started Bunny on antibiotics.



Four days later the lump was gone and there was a scab instead, so we assumed it was an abscess. *whew* No one who had been in contact with Bunny reported any symptoms.

The symptoms start with rats sneezing, a lot of them...perfectly fine one day to sneezing a lot the 2nd day, next the compromised rats may or may not get really sick, really sick, lungs shutting down, heaving, lethargic, and you are sure you are going to lose them. These rats get fluids and steroids injected sub-q to get them through the worst and make them feel a little better. Most of these rats are still sick, but start responding to a combo of antibiotics soon after. These are usually the rats that are affected all their lives. The others range from just sneezing, to sneezing that turns into a mild URI, to a bad URI, to lungs wheezing, and filling up. Some will have the throat swellings and eye/facial issues. These rats get metacam as well as antibiotics. All rats need at least a month of antibiotics depending on the severity of their symptoms. Every morning and every night, the medication regime is very very important to give your rats the best chance possible. You also need to go into a lockdown of sorts with no rats in or out, vet visits very carefully managed (euth's only for me) to not infect other rats in the clinic, anyone who has rats has to stay away from their own rats for 3 hours post-visit (virus dies off host in this time) or can change clothes, shower, and blow nose (virus likes to hid in our nasal cavity) before handling their own rats.

I have had a few issues sadly, one boy got very sick...the 3 older boys from that rescue, the smallest and quietest one...he became very ill and needed the emergency treatment.

Noah, I am not sure why he wanted to sit in that dish, but he sat there for ages, barely moving and trying to breathe. Later on he cuddled against me and is feeling much much better now. But it was scary for both of us. He's a darling boy.



Video



That night little Marty got sick...she was even more scary as she was already a tiny thin girl who always seemed like there was something else wrong with her beyond her eyes. She had the same breathing as Norbert, Waldo, Yara and Melvin, a sound I HATE to hear. She got the emergency treatment and cuddled into my neck for warmth. Things were absolutely touch and go for her and have been for awhile. The worst is that she lost weight not really eating for 2 days and in a rat in her condition that is really not good.

Video before treatment on initial attack



Video after



Little Marty also discovered a new friend, my modem. I put a pocket type hammock over top of it and she crawls in and stays warm with her ongoing heat source LOL She's had 2 days now of doing really well *knock on wood*. She's the most darling, expressive and gentle little gal, I really hope she fights along with me. I am weighing her daily just to make sure she doesn't lose any more weight.





Then a few days ago, Melvin went into a downturn just like Norby and Waldo would do, icy cold, having issues breathing and losing weight. We are fighting that one off right now and he seems to be improving slowly...no panicked runs, or open mouth gasping so definitely not as bad as it could be, which gives me some hope.

I had planned on going up to see my mom this weekend for 1.5 days (she's elderly and I haven't seen her since my birthday in January because of the original bout of SDA and its after effects). Thursday afternoon I made an unpleasant discovery. While hauling out the little tilties, Clare and Bree for their twice-daily meds, I discovered a swollen throat on Bree and a grossly swollen throat on Clare.






So right now as it stands, for the newbies....

Malcolm - URI
Noah (smaller black boy) - URI but bright
Benjamin (big beige boy) - sneezing will turn into URI
Bartholomew (big black boy) - sneezing
Marty - very sick, but fighting
Rizzo - sneezing and URI
Frenchie - sneezing
Riley - sneezed (started him on abs anyways), might have the beginning of ocular issues as I can see a bit of sclera in the corner of his left eye (got metacam to his disgust)
Bunny - sneezing
Soka - URI but responding
Clare - hugely swollen throat, mild URI
Bree - moderately swollen throat, worse URI
Isa - URI with congestion, responding well
Dusa - URI with congestion and crackling, seemed dull last night which is very very worrying, watching her carefully.
Wally - on abs as a preventative, lungs are clear
Freddy - on chlorpalm, no lung sounds

The original SDA rats are having some flareups - Chilly, Bella, the black girl who still needs a name in with the Hellions, Arista, Clemmie and Yara (chronic), Melvin (downturn), so I have my hands full :p

The virus is not fatal but the nasty secondary infections it lets in are...almost all rats will get sick and you might lose some or many...and some may be affected the rest of their lives if they survived.

My list of losses from the first go-around, some were older or compromised, others were doing well and just got very sick.

Alvin & Thomas - Feb 8th (pts together)
Syra - Feb. 9th
Dexter - Feb 13th (AM)
Smitty - Feb 13th (PM)
Samson - Feb 20th (AM, died suddenly)
Willow & Loki - Feb 20th (pts together)
Keiran, Absinthe & Linnet - Feb 27th (pts)
Jonah - Mar 5th
Jennie - Mar 9th

Then the virus had gone through but I had some severely damaged rats that I ending up fighting to keep alive and some I still am like Melvin. The Niagara Nakies have the worst immune systems I have ever known. :(

Norbert - April 6th
Waldo - April 9th (pts)
 
Thank you for posting this Shelagh. I'm so sorry that we're all having to learn about this through the sickness of your kiddos :hugs:

Is there any kind of test to confirm SDA? I.e. culture, bloodwork, etc. My concerns are vets treating as regular respiratory and not realizing the throat/eye issues are tied in.

Many warm thoughts and prayers being sent to your and all your furry little troopers...

Edit: obviously I'm nowhere near ontario.m but knowledge is power and its better to know than to not know.
 
temblabamomo said:
Thank you for posting this Shelagh. I'm so sorry that we're all having to learn about this through the sickness of your kiddos :hugs:

Is there any kind of test to confirm SDA? I.e. culture, bloodwork, etc. My concerns are vets treating as regular respiratory and not realizing the throat/eye issues are tied in.

Many warm thoughts and prayers being sent to your and all your furry little troopers...

Edit: obviously I'm nowhere near ontario.m but knowledge is power and its better to know than to not know.

As with Sendai, you can have special tests done on their blood but it will have to be weeks after exposure so that the antibody titers are up enough. If you test too early you won't be able to tell.

These tests can be a bit dangerous, the blood has to be carefully sent to a special lab who deals with either ELISA or MFI testing and can be expensive. By then your rats have recovered or not.

I had never seen pics of the throat lumps (feels like a small marble in their throat) or the affected eyes which is why I documented them so heavily.
 
Wow lilspaz, I'm so sorry this is happening to you, but I can't think of anyone who could better handle it- you care so much for all of your rats.
Also, this is very, very informative. I didn't really know about the signs of SDA or what it really does until now.

Here's a link to a tracking website that I *think* is still used: http://www.rmca.org/Data/
Maybe you should report both.
 
Aida said:
Wow lilspaz, I'm so sorry this is happening to you, but I can't think of anyone who could better handle it- you care so much for all of your rats.
Also, this is very, very informative. I didn't really know about the signs of SDA or what it really does until now.

Here's a link to a tracking website that I *think* is still used: http://www.rmca.org/Data/
Maybe you should report both.

I need vet confirmation, blood tests etc to report it. No one in Ontario reports any issues, the ones that are on there are ones I helped others with years ago (that never turned out to be viruses in the end), so its likely not going to help anyone, which is why I am doing it here at the grassroots....with the rat owners themselves.
 
Thanks for posting Lilspaz68.
We are now experiencing SDA outbreaks here in NB. In the past, we never really had to worry about it.
I suspect it is coming from feeder breeder/mills as well.
My vet has asked me about it a few times since February.

Unfortunately pet store rats here are generally from high white litters as it was formally in Ontario.
 
It was a crushing realization, and we are all so very upset over this.

I sure hope those who are sick will continue to fight this and overcome it.
 
Thanks so much, this is so important to know for our rescue here in Ottawa. I'm so sorry about your ratties who are gone, and the ones who continue to fight this. :sad3: We do have a quarantine home with ChrisK now, so this is good. We will be much more vigilant than we used to be, and follow the process with no contact for at least 3 hours with our own rats, showering, blowing nose, etc. Question: If someone surrenders ratties to us who has had them as pets for some time but they can't keep them due to allergies, moving, etc, and they tell us they are healthy, no sneezing, no illnesses, and they appear to be in great shape when we see them...do we still have to quarantine them?
 
ratmando said:
Thanks so much, this is so important to know for our rescue here in Ottawa. I'm so sorry about your ratties who are gone, and the ones who continue to fight this. :sad3: We do have a quarantine home with ChrisK now, so this is good. We will be much more vigilant than we used to be, and follow the process with no contact for at least 3 hours with our own rats, showering, blowing nose, etc. Question: If someone surrenders ratties to us who has had them as pets for some time but they can't keep them due to allergies, moving, etc, and they tell us they are healthy, no sneezing, no illnesses, and they appear to be in great shape when we see them...do we still have to quarantine them?


All new rats from all sources should be quarintined in a different air space with all precautions taken for 30 days (if babies the time starts after all babies are weaned).

Many of us take shortcuts if we know the history and therefore believe the risk is extremely low.
But this is a risk, as in my experience most people surrending rats do not tell the truth.
It looks like in Canada we no longer have the luxery of taking short cuts when we think the situation is low risk.
 
ratmando said:
Question: If someone surrenders ratties to us who has had them as pets for some time but they can't keep them due to allergies, moving, etc, and they tell us they are healthy, no sneezing, no illnesses, and they appear to be in great shape when we see them...do we still have to quarantine them?

Sadly no, you have no way of knowing if this person is completely honest or if they handled sick rats at a friends or a petstore and infected their own rats, etc...its just not worth taking the chance unless you have to.

Some people will have no other options for QT which is why I posted the symptoms to watch for, to be aware of its existence and not be blind-sided if by some horrible chance it happens to you.
 
Ok, thanks Lilspaz, I'll definitely talk to RKBusy about this tomorrow when I see her. And, we'll start right away to look for a couple of other quarantine possibilities. My mom (our hammock maker!) is a good one, I bet she'd be fine with it. :D
 
Morning update...

Melvin is still rotten, quiet and cold. He's sleeping in the Modem Hammock right now. He took his meds eagerly though.
Marty did really well until about 1.5 hours ago where she started having trouble and was given treatment and oral abs. She's panicked and bolted somewhere trying to breathe...I don't hold a lot of hope for her. :(
Clare's throat swelling is down a lot...which is good, I thought she might explode LOL
Bree's URI is worse but she's still bright.
Bunny is doing great.
Riley is taking his meds like a good'un along with the 3 older boys, they fight for theirs LOL
Rizzo and Frenchie are maintaining and taking their abs well.
Malcolm's URI seems a bit better. Its not doing too much to him that I have noticed. Sitill need to get his daily bromocirptine into him.
Freddy is doing great,swelling over his "eye" is down, his scabs have improved and he's taking his chlorpalm with a little less fight LOL
 
OMG!! I am sitting here crying while reading this. How much more can you and your poor ratties take!! I am sending good thoughts and prayers from our gang here. Please remember to take care of yourself during this trying time. All your babies need you to stay healthy too. (((HUGS)))
 
Wow, what a brutal realization that must have been. :(
I can't imagine how exhausting it is medicating so many ratties, again. After this is all over, you are going to want to just delete 2013 from your memory banks!
 
Joanne said:
Wow, what a brutal realization that must have been. :(
I can't imagine how exhausting it is medicating so many ratties, again. After this is all over, you are going to want to just delete 2013 from your memory banks!

My heart sunk to my feet. Then I had to start thinking and organizing, doing up timelines...working back to Patient Zero just in case I missed things.

Updates on some of the crews.

Add Amity and Alana to the flareup list of "old" rats.

Soka, who was quite congested and one of the first affected, sounds good, her lungs are almost totally clear.
Clare's throat has almost gone, and her lungs are clearing a well.
Bree is very congested, but still bright and alert and pure hell to medicate...tilties are a real challenge to syringe meds into. :cheeky:
Malcolm's lungs are still rough, but he's bright and sadly with very little activity the bugger has gained weight :doh:
Bunny's lungs are almost completely clear
Frenchie and Rizzo are still sneezing, but are bright, always a good sign
Riley - no more sneezing, but he thinks I am the Bringer of Good Things in Plastic Tubes LOL
Black heart girl is still rough, but still snatching her meds
Wally's lungs are still clear but he's still being medicated
Isa and Dusa are slowly improving
The 3 older boys Noah, Ben and Bart are doing well too
Freddy's eye looks fantastic and he's not sneezing
Melvin - losing some weight, up and down...yesterday was a bit of an up day. His lungs sound like pneumonia though, not the constriction that shut down Norby and Waldo's lungs...similar but more open. He's had no emergency dex injections in days :thumbup:

Marty is mostly up with some down...she was cold this morning and seem3ed panicky. She dived in my shirt, and went down the sleeve of my T where she got "stuck" and stayed there, she warmed up and I moved her to under my neck, and she stretched out, yawned and went back to sleep as a ratty necklace. :heart: Her lungs are mostly clear now but her breathing still seems very hard and worriesome. She also hasn't had to have her pretty pink skin poked with another hole lately either :thumbup:

Melvin


Marty - she had climbed up onto my rocking chair and cuddled between a sweater and a jacket...the girl looves to be comfy :D


 
Please give all these sweeties a kiss from me :heart: :heart: I'm so sorry this has happened, thank you SO much for taking care of all of them, they are in the best, capable hands. :hugs:
 
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