A female rat of mine was said by my Vet to have swollen nasal passages. She always has porphyrin around her nostrils and she sneezes it all over her cage and food. She sneezes quite a bit every day and she’s been rubbing the sides of her muzzle a lot, so it’s scratched and irritated looking. She’s had this for quite a while now and I feel so bad for her. I know when I get allergies I sneeze insanely and am so miserable. I wouldn’t want to live with it daily, so I’m really distressed to see her this way.
In the beginning, I switched beddings–I tried all of them for about a week each (recycled paper, crinkles, Carefresh, corncob, aspen, hemp, even just tissues) and I’ve moved her to other rooms incase it may have been something in my room that caused it, but to no avail.
She’s 2 years old and otherwise fine, she eats and drinks normally, she loves attention and all. The Vet put her on Sulphamethoxazole suspension (Bactrum/Tribrissen) when I brought her in. One cc x2 daily for 2 weeks and reissued it for another month at the same dosage after I said it wasn’t helping at all.
After still no affect I was told to issue her children’s Benadryl (3cc x2 daily), as it may be allergies. The first day I gave her it and hours later she kinda looked like she had trouble breathing and she was sneezing even worse. I had to take her into the bathroom and fill it with steam for her, I don’t know if it helped though. But, since I’m always very paranoid about this kinda stuff, I didn’t give her it again until a couple days later at 1cc instead. She soon seemed to have had the same problem again and I’ve never seen her do that any other time.
I’ve stopped giving her it altogether. But now I’m at a loss…he said that was the only other thing that can be tried at the time I asked for another option… Is there any reason the Benadryl should be doing this? I just don’t know if it happens to be coincidence or not. Does anyone have any experience at all with this problem? Any suggestions or help? Anyone know of any extracts or herbals that could help, or medicine a Vet could possibly prescribe?
I’m saving up for a no-filter humidifier for her. I’ve had many expensive Vet bills to deal with my other rats prior, so I couldn’t afford it. In the meantime, I’ve been using a vaporizer, though I realize it’s not gonna help the same. Hopefully, I’ll be able to get the humidifier within the next few days. Does anyone know if it should help this kinda problem? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
It’s not Mycoplasma–I have dealt with it in the past and still do currently with another rat of mine. When she was at the Vet she was not diagnosed with it. He said her lungs sounded fine. That’s the main reason I brought her in–because I was worried she may have had a respritory infection. Thanks.
Awww, I can tell how much you love and care for her.
I’m not sure what more you can do, although the humidifier seems like a very good idea. Maybe you could try another vet to get a second opinion. Or you could try looking up rodent groups online and getting advice from other people.
I wish you all the best, sorry I can’t be more helpful!
Maybe she has Myco, im not sure, 1 thing though stay with Carefresh