Taco's congestion
- Thread starter Dena
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Me too! He really is such a sweet sweet boy! He's so well behaved, he WON'T go in places he's never been, or hasn't been brought to play in, and WON'T get out of the cage on his own. My other two boys help themselves to anything they want to do or eat! He's really not a typical (I guess) rat. He's always been super shy, but a mommy's boy. I was so scared I was going to lose him the day I posted this thread!
Oh my gosh, how sweet! I'm so glad that he made it through! 
I absolutely love hoodies-- they're really special and it sounds like Taco is especially special. From what you've shared about your little potato he sounds like such a precious, sweet little rat. I think it's so incredible how unique each rat's personalities are, especially when you have a group of rattie siblings or ratties in the same line the uniqueness is really apparent. Sometimes when there are a couple of ratties with outgoing personalities in the mischief you'll have one or two that are naturally a little more shy or sensitive but over time most shy guys mellow out with age.
Ah! And did I mention I absolutely love hooded rats? Hoodies have a special place in my heart
. We had our own precious little rescue hoodie named Podrick (we called him piddle Pod because he loved to mark everything and Pod Guy, lots of nicknames for our potatoes). Pod was such an incredible little rattie, he didn't want anything else in life but to be with us and he was a total Mama's boy too!
Just keep an eye on your shy guy as he ages. He may have flare-ups over time, especially if there is any lung scarring after his bout, but another round of meds should help keep it in check if that happens. But I hope that this is the last time he'll need them!
I've had lil buddies who were as bad as little Taco was who bounced back and never needed antibiotics again (our sweetie Nibbles for example and he lived to be 3.5 years old!) and some that had chronic lung disease that was intermittent and eventually needed lifelong treatment with antibiotics. There are some good supplemental treatments you can do to help prevent or at least lower the chances of flare-ups too. I know this is common sense and I'm sure you already do this since it's obvious how well you care for your boys, but making sure that the cage is cleaned at least every 7 days (especially when you have a larger mischief) to keep ammonia levels as low as possible, offering filtered water if possible, and adding antioxidants to their diet. Two juicy blueberries a day per rattie, and/or adding in a little organic red palm oil (https://store.nutiva.com/products/organic-red-palm-oil), alcohol-free liquid tumeric (I use this stuff: https://www.vitaminshoppe.com/p/turmeric-3-orange-1-fl-oz/bb-7715), or CBD oil (of course only if it's legal in your location! I use Ananda 600mg, same as pet version but higher concentration = much smaller dose: http://www.gainesvillerx.com/product/ananda-professional-cbd-600mh). I've used all three of these supplements and in my experience adding antioxidants seems to help curb flare-ups or at the very least slow down the progression of lung disorders, at least in what I've observed with my lil guys.
Even keeping it simple and just adding in blueberries to their diet has great benefits too! Our little buddy Beans, with his chronic lung issues and pulmonary abscesses, I've found that giving tumeric (5 drops twice daily) and CBD oil (1 to 2 drops once a day) indefinitely has had measured benefit for him in managing his symptoms. He's 2.5 years old and regardless of his really horrible lungs, the combination of his prescribed meds he's actually doing really well and I've seen improvement (improvement that has kept him stable/no decline so far) w/ adding the complementary treatments, so maybe something to think about and consider now or in the future as your boys age!
Anyway, sorry for the long reply! I enjoy sharing my experiences with this sort of stuff in case it may be helpful to other rattie mamas and dads out there.
Please give lots of scritches and kisses to Taco and your hoodie boys for me! Wishing your boys many, many months and happy years of good health and long lives
Edited because I somehow posted my reply as a quote lol.
I absolutely love hoodies-- they're really special and it sounds like Taco is especially special. From what you've shared about your little potato he sounds like such a precious, sweet little rat. I think it's so incredible how unique each rat's personalities are, especially when you have a group of rattie siblings or ratties in the same line the uniqueness is really apparent. Sometimes when there are a couple of ratties with outgoing personalities in the mischief you'll have one or two that are naturally a little more shy or sensitive but over time most shy guys mellow out with age.Ah! And did I mention I absolutely love hooded rats? Hoodies have a special place in my heart
. We had our own precious little rescue hoodie named Podrick (we called him piddle Pod because he loved to mark everything and Pod Guy, lots of nicknames for our potatoes). Pod was such an incredible little rattie, he didn't want anything else in life but to be with us and he was a total Mama's boy too!Just keep an eye on your shy guy as he ages. He may have flare-ups over time, especially if there is any lung scarring after his bout, but another round of meds should help keep it in check if that happens. But I hope that this is the last time he'll need them!
I've had lil buddies who were as bad as little Taco was who bounced back and never needed antibiotics again (our sweetie Nibbles for example and he lived to be 3.5 years old!) and some that had chronic lung disease that was intermittent and eventually needed lifelong treatment with antibiotics. There are some good supplemental treatments you can do to help prevent or at least lower the chances of flare-ups too. I know this is common sense and I'm sure you already do this since it's obvious how well you care for your boys
, but making sure that the cage is cleaned at least every 7 days (especially when you have a larger mischief) to keep ammonia levels as low as possible, offering filtered water if possible, and adding antioxidants to their diet. Two juicy blueberries a day per rattie, and/or adding in a little organic red palm oil (https://store.nutiva.com/products/organic-red-palm-oil), alcohol-free liquid tumeric (I use this stuff: https://www.vitaminshoppe.com/p/turmeric-3-orange-1-fl-oz/bb-7715), or CBD oil (of course only if it's legal in your location! I use Ananda 600mg, same as pet version but higher concentration = much smaller dose: http://www.gainesvillerx.com/product/ananda-professional-cbd-600mh). I've used all three of these supplements and in my experience adding antioxidants seems to help curb flare-ups or at the very least slow down the progression of lung disorders, at least in what I've observed with my lil guys.Even keeping it simple and just adding in blueberries to their diet has great benefits too! Our little buddy Beans, with his chronic lung issues and pulmonary abscesses, I've found that giving tumeric (5 drops twice daily) and CBD oil (1 to 2 drops once a day) indefinitely has had measured benefit for him in managing his symptoms. He's 2.5 years old and regardless of his really horrible lungs, the combination of his prescribed meds he's actually doing really well and I've seen improvement (improvement that has kept him stable/no decline so far) w/ adding the complementary treatments, so maybe something to think about and consider now or in the future as your boys age!
Anyway, sorry for the long reply! I enjoy sharing my experiences with this sort of stuff in case it may be helpful to other rattie mamas and dads out there.
Please give lots of scritches and kisses to Taco and your hoodie boys for me! Wishing your boys many, many months and happy years of good health and long lives Edited because I somehow posted my reply as a quote lol.
