Is respiratory disease in rats infectious?

Question

Is it? because i am quite sure i have one rat with this, or myco actually (going to the vet next week for antibiotics)

but my other (was quite healthy before my other got sick) rat has been sneezing very badly and i dont know if this is anything she got herself or was given to her by my other rat

helppppp ugh should i seperate them? (i have 6 rats, 2 new babies)

Answer 1

Technically yes, but almost every rat outside of a lab already HAS myco - it just lies dormant until something (a strong smell, smoke, chemicals, etc.) triggers it. Ergo, separating the "healthy" rats from the symptomatic ones doesn't really accomplish anything. All of your rats already have myco - separating them now would be like locking the barn door AFTER the horse has already run off.

Now, if it's something ELSE (SDA http://ratguide.com/health/viruses/sda.p... or Sendai http://ratguide.com/health/viruses/senda... , for example, quarantine WOULD normally be necessary (except your rats have all already exposed each other to whatever it is, so quarantine would already be too little, too late).

Did you quarantine http://ratguide.com/health/basics/quaran... your new babies when you brought them home? If you didn't, they may have brought home something unpleasant (such as Sendai or SDA). This is why it's ALWAYS a good idea to q-tine new rats, unless you got them from someone who a) only had your new rats and no others, b) hasn't had anything to do with other peoples' rats - including those in the pet shop (just being in a shop that sells rats - or mice - is enough to make the person a carrier who might bring whatever the pet shop rats had home with them) and c) the rats are completely healthy. Of course, since very few people can know for sure that their new rats had no exposure to other, strange rats - directly or indirectly - it's a good idea to q-tine just in case. Better that the rats be quarantined for an extra month unnecessarily (in a SEPARATE airspace, like a friend's house - quarantine in the same airspace isn't a quarantine at all!) than for them to bring home something nasty, infect your older rats, and possibly lead to ALL of your rats dying!

Answer 2

YES it is very infectious. you will need baytril from the vet :)

also seperate the healthy ones from the room with the infected ones

hope they get well soon

Answer 3

Respiratory disease is the most common health problem and cause of death in pet rats. The most common organism causing this disease in rats is the bacteria Mycoplasma pulmonis. Mycoplasma is very contagious and incurable. There are different strains of mycoplasma that are more or less virulent and so can cause more or less severe disease. Different rats also seem to have differing resistance to the disease. The severity of a mycoplasma infection can be increased by cigarette smoke, ammonia from a dirty cage, vitamin A or E deficiency, pine or cedar shavings, and a concurrent respiratory infection of another type, as well as genetic susceptibility.

Answer 4

Are you the same Katy who just adopted rats in Brissy?  I'd say ask her cause she is very good with these types of questions.