yes I really am this dense (QT questions)

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Petunia

Petunia

Supporting Member
Supporting Member
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Nov 21, 2009
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please tell me if I'm understanding this at all, oK?

you QT rats not because of the chance of spreading myco, because they pretty much all have been exposed to that, right so far?

but rather because of those two deadly viruses that both begin with the letter S and one looks like Japanese,
am I on the right track so far?

and those two viruses will show up in a rat in two to three weeks, right?

(stop me anywhere along the way if I'm on the wrong track please!)

so- if a rat has been in a home for 2-3 weeks with no other rats coming into the home, and that rat(s) is fine, no signs of illness,
can it be said that the rat is properly QTed?

basically I am trying to assess the risk of rat sitting in my home with my own rats here

and also I want to know if there's anything I should tell the owners of these rats that would protect their rats as well as mine.

so far the biggest thing I've mentioned to them is that they need to have a back up plan


I've had rats for 3 yrs now and so I think ppl might expect me to know if this is a safe thing to do or not
I feel like I have to be the one to inform them of what their other choices are and the pros and cons of those
I know I don't have to, but I feel like they might expect me to know more than they do, and I don't. :oops:
I mean, I depend on the Rat Shack and you guys for all the difficult stuff (and my vets of course too)

it's not that I don't know 'stuff' but when it comes to health issues, I ALWAYS want at least one other trusted opinion.


I mean, should I tell this new rat owner who needs a sitter for 2 weeks that she should look into having a person come to her house, that it might be safer for her rats?
and is it really safer to have someone come to your house, as opposed to having the rats stay at the sitters with resident rats?

could the professional rat sitter who goes to your home be a greater potential risk if she is sitting for other rats or frequenting pet stores/vets?

me I don't go anywhere, basically- I'm home most of the time, so I don't worry too much about me carrying in viruses from outside



sorry if this rambles a bit, I'm trying to figure out all the potential issues involved- and who is responsible for what.
I tend to feel overly responsible for a lot of things in general, and I have a hard time figuring out where to draw the line.

I mean if someone were to ask you, will you rat sit for me in your home? and you've got your own rats,
what would you tell them?

if they were new to rats, would you tell them to research QT and the like, or would you feel like you should be the one to tell them about it?
assuming you were willing to take the risk, would you insist that they not allow any other rats into their home in the weeks prior to when you rat sit for them? and ask/tell them not to go to pet stores?

nothing in life is 100% risk free. I just want to reduce the risk as much as possible. I don't need the small amount of $ that I might* make from rat sitting badly enough to put anyone's rats at risk
theirs or mine
ya know?


(*I'm probably gonna do this as a trade thing for stuff that I need, rides to stores and whatnot, no for cash)
 
Sendai and SDA are common viruses, I do believe carb-b and something that starts with an R I believe are others can can be transmitted. Some other sickness rats can get can travel in the colony fast. If they are sick I QT for a while now. I didnt do it well enough with Choxi and Sendai, Hence the name Sendai LOL. 22 rats on a nebulizer within 4 days.

I do not quarantine all. For instance Pika no, because she was the lone rat in the house and cage.

The 5 music men, we kept them in another room in the house for months before i brought them even downstairs. They were deathly ill.

I did not with cordelia either because she wasnt sick, now that does not mean they cannot be carriers and it was pretty stupid of me not to honestly. She was said to be the only rat, but I didnt trust that enough not to have her spayed.

The same goes with mice and hamsters. They can catch and carry the sendai but i am not sure about others.

We did not pass anything with the music men. I gave meds prior to showering, i held them only before i went to bed. I did not touch them during the day since i spend so much time in my rat room. I would ask my daughter constantly "did you touch them?" lol
 
Yes, because of the several deadly diseases.
All rats have myco, there are different strains and one theory is that the more strains a rat has, the larger the impact on it's health. But since there is no cure, nothing can be done except to never bring in new rats and possibly more strains of myco.

QT is at least 4 weeks in a seperate airspace with showers, change of clothing, disinfecting your nose etc.
Huge effort and 4 weeks is not always enough.

Those involved in rescue often take calculated risks ... like if the rats have been isolated in a home with contact with no other rats for months ... but it is still a big risk. Especially in the US.
Most cases of these diseases are never reported so how great the danger is, is unknown.

People can bring home these viruses from a pet store, or from visiting other rats, etc.
(Excellent reason to stay far away from pet stores.)

Several years ago my former vet thought Caleb had an unknown antibiotic resistent respir infection (finally found out he had chf) so I had to do a full quarantine so as not to expose other rats. It took hours every day and was a huge effort ... After a month or so, I was a wreck.
 
I think if the rats have been in their owners home for 3 or 4 weeks without any signs of illness, and the owner has not been in contact with any other rats in that time frame, then the rats are effectively quarantined. Anyone can carry a subclinical infection that is not detected, so there is always a *risk* no matter how long you quarantine for. So it's up to you. You could keep them in a separate part of the house, and interact last with them before bed. When someone is looking after my rats when I'm away, I'm just happy if they are fed and watered and medicated as necessary. Extra attention is nice, but not required.
 
THANKS everyone for your feedback


I think I've got a good sense for it all now, and if I forget (again! :oops: ) I can just come back here and check


:thumbup:

you guys rock!
:heart:
 
This is a great thread.
I also don't understand QT very well.

this ratguide http://ratguide.com/health/basics/quarantine.php says that you need 2 weeks of "different air space" (not in the same house!) Quarantine and if your rat needs vet care, the QT (quarantine) starts again for another two weeks after the rat is OFF medication...

When I got my Gracie rat she was a lone rat and I brought her directly home and put her in another room apart from my Molly rat. (I was concerned about mites). I thought I was quarantining my new rat, but evidently not.

Here is the problem - as soon as I brought Gracie home, she went to the vets for a turmor removal. The antibiotics muted her 'monkey noise' mycoplasma infection, but when she went off of the antibiotics her myco flared up again badly and she has been on antibiotics ever since (the 'monkey noises' have never gone completely away).
Had she started in a "true" (off-site) quarantine, wouldn't she still be stuck in QT according to the ratguide?

How do you rescue rats (particularly sick ones in need of medical attention) and still keep your existing rats safe?
 
ratkin412 said:
This is a great thread.


How do you rescue rats (particularly sick ones in need of medical attention) and still keep your existing rats safe?
Click to expand...

That's a good question. As for me, I don't quarantine because I can't. I have no way of doing quarantine. Besides, I learned the hard way that even the best of quarantines are not fool proof. Take CAR b for example. You could quarantine your rat for 6 months and still have that rat spread it. So for me, it's a chance I take. But... I'm lucky in that I have a very good vet and I can get all the meds I want.
 
ratkin412 said:
How do you rescue rats (particularly sick ones in need of medical attention) and still keep your existing rats safe?
Click to expand...

It varies person to person. Some people(most, but I could be wrong) don't. A lot of people don't know another person who'd be able to keep the rat for that length of time and be able to do proper QT(no pet stores, etc). I don't, personally, because for me with where I work? It's pointless. If I'm gonna get a virus in my group, I'm gonna get it regardless whether or not I'm QTing new rats.
 
We used the bedroom upstairs and it worked. The musicmen were hit and miss for a long time. They all made it and none of mine got sick.
 

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