Self Injury? UPDATEx2:Mites, but could just be infection?

[ryelle]

Is there not any medicated shampoo you can get to bath him? It might relieve his itching for a bit

 

[SQ]

We didn't want to do revo because several doses for several ratties was going to get awfully spendy at 2 doses a tube(we have big boys).

Revolution is applied to the back of the neck and lasts for 30 days. After 30 days it can be reapplied.
The strength of revolution is usually 120 mg per 1 ml. I believe a small tube of revolution contains 1 ml.
The dose for revolution is 4 to 8 mg per Ib (or 454.4g) of body weight.

I think there must be a misunderstanding because if you gave the max dose (8mg/Ib) and your boys weigh 2 pounds (908.8g), there would be approx. 7 doses in a 1 ml tube of cat revolution.
(I have a large number of ratties so I always buy the 2 ml tubes of revolution.)


But I don't know if revolution is effective against Chyletiella Mange.
Sorry, thought you had mites.
Sounds like you may need to take drastic measures to rid your home of these bugs.

 

[MomRat]

So, a vet trip was mandated for Dominic by a nasty URI, and while there this Mite issue was also discussed. She was astonished at the lack of improvement, but agreed to prescribe Revo to try next. Got her calculations right this time, didn't really have to argue. She did however, because of the particular buggy, reccommend the twice a month treatment, instead of once, which is deemed acceptable on Ratguide, so we're going with it.

HOWEVER, I had also sent a detailed description of what we were dealing with to a Vet-friend of mine back at home(far too far away to be our personal vet, sadly) whose opinion, honesty, research, and experience I trust and respect VERY deeply, who also had the added benefit of not being in a position to take my money. Of course, he needed to do a little of that research and I didn't get his response until we had already been in to see our vet because of the URI(otherwise I would have waited on his thoughts before rushing to the vet for revolution... :wallbang:

Here is his response:

Are you treating for skin infection too??? There's a very good chance that cheyletiella was your primary problem (which the ivermectin should treat just fine) and that the rats through scratching are keeping a nice staph skin infection going. This is usually EASILY treated with topical meds and nail trims. If I were you, I'd buy some over the counter betadine solution and add it to warm water to make it the color of iced tea. Then bath the rats in it daily and keep their toenails trimmed. It will not hurt to continue a weekly dose of ivomec. Make sure that you're doing your best to clean the housing/bedding to rid of eggs that could be hatching and resulting in reinfections. It's OK if you want to do revolution, but ivomec at the proper dose (0.2-0.4 mg/kg SQ every 10-14 days, or 2mg/kg topically every 10-14 days) should work just fine.

We bought the Revolution(one tube blue), we have enough for 6 weeks treatment of all three rats every two weeks as reccommended by our vet, we're going to use it. Has anyone encountered skin infections like this? Does it sound like a possible solution? I do trust Todd's opinion, it's just odd to me that our vet didn't even consider this...

 

[jorats]

My mom had a rat with a staph infection probably due to his buddy over grooming him. I'll have a chat with her because I know it was treated and he became better.

 

[lilspaz68]

Jo, pyoderma is often a staph infection. Can you take pics Momrat? Or search for Faith in Rat Tails under my name?

 

[jorats]

Jo, pyoderma is often a staph infection.

Yep, I knew that. :wink2:

 

[lilspaz68]

Jo, pyoderma is often a staph infection.

Yep, I knew that. :wink2:

ugh, it used to be soo rare

 

[MomRat]

So, here's the best pic we could get of Dom, per Shelagh's request.
Original pic for location:

The same image, zoomed in, for detail:

And, one of him being cute, just because:

It's good to know what this actually is, but, just so you know, I messaged my vet friend again, and he says that the Baytril/Doxy combo that Dom is on for his URI will take care of the Staph, if it is indeed Staph. All for the best. =)

 

[mamarat]

He is so cute. :heart:

 

[MomRat]

I just wanted to give an update, particularly because I am selling ratty cage liners now and don't want anyone scared to purchase from us due to this infestation. :giggle:

Less than a week into his baytril/doxy combo, along with Revolution, Dominic's scabbing, scratching, etc vanished entirely! Of course, the multiple treatments mean we will never know what actually did it, but I am inclined to believe that it was the antibiotics taking out a skin infection, for it to be that sudden and complete, especially considering that the chin scabs vanished with the Ivermectin treatment.

That being said, I think we can stand by the fact that Ivermectin and Revolution both treat Cheyletiella Mange. It is, however, a mite that originates with Dogs, Cats, and Rabbits, primarily, that CAN transfer via people, CAN infect rats, and CAN live up to ten days off the host. It can also live asymptotically(without symptoms) on any animal due to the animal having a healthy immune system. So, bringing a new dog or cat into your home is as much a reason to treat your rat colony for mites as bringing in a new rat, even if none of the new animals have symptoms.

So, we are symptom free and have been for most of a month. But, I will now ALWAYS advocate washing and/or freezing of all new bedding and hammocks that you bring into your home, and will always recommend it for my customers. =)

 

[jorats]

I'm so glad he's all better. Good advice with the freezing of all bedding.