Rat. Age 1. Has noisy breathing coming from lung.?

Question

My rat, Penelope is a little more than a year old. She lives in a fish tank with another rat, Gemini. I use Pine wood chips in my their cage, and I just recently heard that Pine bedding is a bad choice, and I am planning to change it. But aside from all that, for the first time today I noticed that she makes this noise when she breathes. I put her tummy up to my ear and I can hear it in her lungs. Maybe wheezing? It sounds like rattling. Should I be concerned? Or could this be a mild, temporary issue, and could be fixed by a simple bedding change?

Answer 1

my female rat had the same problem, I switched her from pine shavings to aspen and care fresh, breathing is back to normal and when I run out of that sometimes I use Daily Scoops, it's a newspaper cat litter and put Care Fresh in there for sleepy times...I also moved her from her aquarium to a two story cage with bars, more air can go through and virtually no dust buildup  

Answer 2

It is probably a respiratory infection. Yes, pine it is a bad choice of bedding but a lot of people in the world use it and have never experienced any problems with their rats.

Respiratory infections are very common in rats. Mycoplasma pulmonis is the is said to be the common cause for respiratory infections. Every rat has it (except the ones used in laboratory's) but each rat will react differently to Myco.

Please take your rat to the vet so she will be able to give the proper diagnosis. If it is a respiratory infection then your vet will prescribe antibiotics or some form of medicine.

Keep an eye on your rat as well. If she begins to not eat or drink then it is probably more than a respiratory infection. Other symptoms that your rat is sick may be red discharge around eyes and nose, hunched appearance, staring coat, coughing and sneezing.

It would be best if you changed the bedding as pine is not good. I use cat litter as recommended by my vet. She said that it absorbs urine and helps chest problems. Some other good choices of bedding are Carefresh, Yesterday`s News, shredded paper or Aspen. Please also stay away from cedar beddings and if you do decide to use cat litter make sure it is dust free and is made from recycled paper.

Good luck! I hope the little fellow gets better.

Answer 3

I would definitely change their bedding to something else. Also make sure that you clean them out often enough so they don't smell bad because ammonia build up in the cage can cause irritation in the lungs. Fish tanks have less ventilation them some other cages so sometimes need to be cleaned more frequently.

Watch for other symptoms like porphyrin from around the nose, mouth and eyes because it can be a sign of stress and illness. It could be mycoplasma which is a very common condition in rats and is treatable but not curable. It does not usually effect rats in a large way but can get progressively worse in some cases.

Keep an eye on her and if it gets worse even after you have changed the bedding i would recommend you get her checked by a vet.

Answer 4

Wood bedding can give Rats respiratory infections.  I used Carefresh paper bedding with very good results.  I do not know why some pet stores still say to use wood when is is so bad for them!  Petco is the only Pet Store I have been to that got it right.

I do not know if she can kick the problem.  Just change the litter and keep her from drafts and no baths for now.

Good luck, I hope she will be okay.

Answer 5

Sounds to me like a respitory infection. You need to get her to the vet. And yes pine is horrible on the respitory system. Try switching to Carefresh, Soft Sorbant or Yesterdays News.

Mycoplasma : a bacterium lacking a cell wall.

Mycoplasma pulmonis: a commensal species specific organism carried by nearly all pet rats, and which colonizes the luminal surface of the respiratory epithelium.

Murine Mycoplasmosis: a disease entity caused by mycoplasma pulmonis, and which is responsible for respiratory and genital infections in pet rats.

Clinical Signs

Clinical signs vary depending on virulence, and the site of infection. Also because the course of disease caused by mycoplasma is chronic rather than fulminant, signs of illness tend to increase as the rat ages. Any of the following clinical signs may be present:

In upper respiratory disease, signs may range from clinically silent to early signs of sneezing, snuffling, squinting, and porphyrin staining (rust colored) around eyes and nose. Inner ear infection may also be seen with signs of head tilt, rolling, and face or ear rubbing.

As disease advances along the respiratory passages causing bronchiolitis, bronchiectasis and bronchopneumonia, the signs may include rattling moist breath sounds, labored breathing, gasping, chattering, and coughing. Additional signs of illness are: hunched posturing with rough coat, weight loss, and changes in behavior due to illness (e.g. nipping, biting, avoidance).

In genital infections, the organism may be a cause of pyometra or purulent endometritis (inflammation of the lining of the uterus), salpingitis (inflammation of fallopian tubes), and perioophoritis (inflammation of ovaries). The signs may range from clinically inapparent symptoms to abdominal distention or signs of blood-tinged uterine discharge. Hematuria (blood tinged urine) from a concurrent urinary tract infection may also be present.

Where chronic uterine infections are attributed to Mycoplasma, decreased litter sizes may also result.

Pneumonia

Back to Lower Respiratory

Definition

An infection and inflammatory process of the bronchioles, alveolor spaces, and interstitial tissue of the lung parenchyma.

Clinical Signs

May observe any of the following:

Porphyrin (rust colored) stains about nose and/or eyes.

Wheezing, small coughs, congestion, sneezing, increase in rapid breathing, labored breathing, use of abdominal muscles to breathe, and gasping.

Hunched posturing with rough coat

Lethargy

Poor or loss of appetite.

May hear Rales (crackling, often sounds like rice krispies in milk) when listening to chest with stethoscope.

May hear Rhonchi (rumbling indicating presence of thick fluid) when listening to chest with stethoscope.

If significant consolidation present in lungs breath sounds may be diminished even when listening with a stethoscope.

Presence of head tilt if otitis media/interna (ear infection) is present.

Presence of secondary illness, eg: tumors.

Panic type movement related to inability to get enough oxygen into lungs.

Changes in behavior due to illness (e.g. nipping, biting, avoidance)

Feet and tail tip cyanosis (as oxygen in blood decreases) may be a late sign.

Get her to the vet and an aquarium is not a very good choice for a cage. Rats have very delicate respitory systems and an aquarium is not ventilated. Hope this helps. My rats have always taken Vibramycin with a respitory infection because Baytril never works.

Answer 6

Often the sign of a respiratory infection. Virtually all pet rats are infected with an organism called mycoplasma which inhabits their respiratory system. Many rats carry mycoplasma without appearing to suffer any illness, while others are not able to carry the infection unharmed. These rats will usually start to sneeze as young adults; they then develop some damage to the respiratory tract (lungs, windpipe, etc.) which makes it easier for bacteria to enter and cause an infection. This is usually what has happened when a rat starts to wheeze, and if a great deal of damage is caused to the respiratory tract, the rat may develop emphysema, bronchitis, pneumonia and lung abscesses.

Although sneezing is not necessarily a sign of serious illness (most rats sneeze at some point in their lives), a rat that sneezes frequently and for an extended period should be observed for any other signs of illness. If your rat's breathing appears laboured, wheezy, or has a rattley sound, consult a vet immediately. When treated early, secondary respiratory infections can often be kept at bay with a strong course of antibiotics.

While sneezing or snuffling may be the result of the irritation of the respiratory tract from dust and phenol oils if the rat is kept on shavings, often a rat with noisy breathing is suffering from a secondary infection in the upper respiratory tract.

Answer 7

do you notice anything else wrong with her like coughing,sneezing?

have you notice her sleeping more or losing weight?

is she getting enough liquids?

just pay close attention and look for slight changes or any changes in your other rat..

if i were you i would call a vet and ask him about it they might be able to give you some better tips