I want the best for my rats!?

Question

My rat has a reperitory infection and I wanted to know what food is best for my rats and cage liner/shavings. I'm pretty resticted to petco right now because it is closest to me and I've always gone there! Is a mix bag of food good for my rats? And are wood savings better than the puffs or whatever they are? Anything els that would be the best for them would be good! Thanks

Answer 1

First of all you need to go to the vet and she/he will give your rat antibiotics. The vets that I recommend you go to are ones that specialise in small animals or ones recommended by your local vet. The vet will tell you how often and how much dosages to give your rat, so make sure you follow their instructions! When giving them antibiotics you can either give it to them in a syringe or spoon (they probably won’t like the taste so this is not the best way to do it) or mix it in with their favourite food (this is the best way as they won’t even realise that you put antibiotics into their food). If you see improvements then that means that she may be improving but if she is not, take her back to the vet and they will give you something else or may even put the rat in a box and try and get the rat to breathe in the medicine, depends how severe it is. I realise this can cause allot of stress on rats so if you think at any point that you see that it is getting worse or she is gasping for air and in allot of stress,  it’s time to put an end to her suffering, because a respiratory infection is a horrible, painful and nasty disease. You can either get the rat euthanised at a vet or you can euthanise her. I strongly recommend you get it done by the vet. It is a painless method and will not cause any stress to your rat.

My vet recommends to use cat litter because it absorbs urine and helps chest problems, so it is good for rats that have respiratory infection.  Also make sure that it is dust free and made from recycled paper.  NEVER use pine or cedar as a bedding.

I am pretty sure that you can still feed their regular staple diet which is made up of rat mix and/or rat blocks/pellets/cubes but if they stop eating,  it is unlikely that they are going to eat it. Fresh vegetables and/or fruits should still be given daily and treats and table scraps can also be given.

I have heard from many people that chocolate is good for respiratory infections, so if you want give her a bit because it might help. Chocolate will not cure the infection and should not be fed on a regular basis!

If you see that your rat is not eating or drinking that can cause rapid weight loss and that means you have to take action otherwise she does not stand a chance of surviving. Get a syringe or spoon. Fill it up with water and then put it in her mouth. Squirt some water very slowly into her mouth, DO NOT CHOKE HER! If she looks like she is drinking it that means that it is a good sign, if she doesn’t, she may not make it, but don’t give up and keep trying every hour or so or even leave the syringe or a spoonful of water next to her, though she probably won’t want to drink it. To feed her you need a syringe, get some baby food (rats love it) or something soft and fill the syringe up with it. Put the syringe in her mouth and squirt very slowly. If you see that she is eating it, continue but if she is not, don’t worry too much for now, you can try again later. You may also like to use a spoon for feeding so they can l**k of it but I would suggest a syringe.

There’s loads of toys rats love! My rat likes hammocks, I don’t know if you would call it a toy but it`s one of the best things a rat could have. Chew toys are great too and great for gnawing their teeth down. Ladders and rocks, pebbles and all that are really good and can be very interesting to a rat especially if they haven’t seen it before.

I hope this helps. Good luck! I hope the little guy gets better.

Answer 2

Petco (from what I've heard, because they don't have them over here) only stocks poor-quality rodent mixes (just like any other pet shop lol), which definately won't provide the nutrients your rat needs, as well as usually containing alfalfa pellets, dried corn and all sorts of artificial ingredients - none of which are good for rats. The best main food would be lab blocks, and you can order these off the internet. Some people in hard-to-find regions order bulk and sell them to people in the area. If you can't find a place to order them, you can try making your own mix, although it won't be a good idea to forever feed him that, as chances are it won't be completely balanced on its own. The ingredients should be avaliable from most bulk shops, and you can probably find some of them at your local supermarket too. A few are http://www.ratfanclub.org/diet.html , http://www.ratsrule.com/diet.html , the second post over here: http://www.ratclub.org/forum/viewtopic.p... and http://www.shunamiterats.co.uk/diet.html . Unless your rats bedding is currently pine, cedar or sawdust etc, there's really no need to switch beddings. It would be a good idea to however, to try something different to see if he's allergic, just in case. Suitable beddings are paper-based cat litter, e.g. Yesterdays News, Breeders Choice, Back 2 Nature, Aspen wood shavings, and shredded paper.

Now onto correcting what was said before me! :P

There is NO reason to ONLY use newspaper as bedding. Aspen or paper kitty litter is JUST as good, if not even better as it absorbs the smell better that just newspaper. A rat having myco (most common resp. infection) is NOT the rat equilavent of a human having a disease they need to be put in hospital for. Commercial rat food (lab blocks btw, I don't support feeding pet shop mixes) should always be avaliable, are are always going to be more nutritionally complete than food from your plate. That's not saying you CAN'T feed that bits of veges and stuff, you should always anyway. A rat with a resp. infection is NOT a "crippled" rat. it can eat by itself, p**p by itself, yadaya.

Good luck, and say hi to your rats for me :D

Answer 3

I also have domestic rates. Since they sleep most of the day, they still  have their mixture of seeds,  etc made for rats. At night I give them fresh lettuce (not iceburg,but other such as romaine, boston, collards), also, I chop up fresh carrots, brocolli, they get a fresh banana (1/3-1/2) sliced up, yogurt treats made for rates, apple pieces, and their biggest love is  popped pop corn. Sometimes I give them peanuts in the shells. As for bedding, I shred newspaper in my paper shredder and they love that more than any other, it keeps them busy moving it around and  piling it up all over. Also, fresh water from a bottle that attaches to the top of the cage.

Seriously, Petco is very expensive, just shred news paper. They love it.

Answer 4

I'm assuming the rat that has a respiratory infection is on antibiotics from the vet?

Petco does not supply any high quality foods. No, a mix bag of food is not good for your rats. I have a great write up on good rat diets here:

http://www.petinfopackets.com/rats/ratfe...

I don't know of any bedding called puffs. Pine and cedar wood shavings should be avoided at all costs since they damage an animal's respiratory system and liver over time. If you're going to use wood shavings, the only safe type to use is aspen.

Rat care information:

http://www.petinfopackets.com/rats/ratin... (My website)

http://www.rmca.org/

ftp://members.aol.com/juliesrats/e4ninde...

http://ratguide.com/

http://www.goosemoose.com/rfc/index.php

Answer 5

Your rats need fresh fruit and veg to like carrots, celery but not lettuce it gives them Dora. Also try and find a bedding that is softer it will be more comfortable for you rat.

hope this helps...

Answer 6

Clean the rat's cage EVERY DAY while it has this infection.  Use ONLY newspaper, several sheets on the bottom, and several more torn (long way) to about 1/2" wide as 'bedding.'  Don't give your rat ANY 'commercial rat food' for now ... give it bits of your dinner (if your parents will allow you to bring it to the table to eat, that's even better ... while the rat is sick ALWAYS feed it by hand, OUTSIDE the cage.  Change the water EVERY DAY and be sure to wash the WHOLE container and 'spout' in HOT WATER (no soap) before you put the clean, cool water in.  When the rat is better, you may give it commercial food, but you should also always give it bits of vegetables (especially the peelings that get thrown away) and tiny bits of meat, as well as some bread, or rice, or noodles. NEVER give a rat celery, since the 'strings' can get tied up in their stomachs and strangle them to death.  AS LONG AS YOUR RAT IS SICK YOU MUST FEED IT BY HAND AT LEAST FOUR TIMES A DAY!  Remove anything it doesn't want and keep that cage SPOTLESS.  Think 'hospital environment' ... very clean, careful and frequent care ... and I hope your rat gets better soon.  After this ALWAYS use newspaper as bedding, and give some 'real food' to go along with the 'commercial food' ... and if possible, because your rat is sick now, you might want to add 'vitamin' drops to the water or dry food, so it gets and stays as healthy as possible.  By the way, if your rat is over 2 years old, it's probably on it's 'last legs' and will get sicker and sicker ... treat it well and let it die naturally, and when it's gone GO GET A NEW RAT RIGHT AWAY!  You are a good rat owner, and you deserve to have a good rat, as much as that rat deserves to have YOU for it's owner!

Answer 7

WOOD SHAVINGS BAD. Go for a soft bedding like the colorful paper-y kind they sell. It's less likely to give them respiratory infections because it doesn't splinter like wood does.