my long haired female rat that is about 1.5 yrs old has gross crusty eyes.
she also sneezes a lot.
I clean their eyes (we have 2 rats) on a weekly basis or when they look like they need it with visine on a qtip. for the most part, they actually hold still and let me groom them.

I cleaned Zinnia's eyes (the long haired) earlier today and they are all nasty again.

Any ideas on what this could be or how I can help her get better/ less eye gunk?
It freaked my dd out, cause their saliva looks like blood. she yelled "mommy, zinnia's eyes are bleeding!"

Mama, I don't know about rats (cuz I can't do things w/ tails!!) but our hamster had that and we took him to the vet.

He had an eye infection and a cold and we got antibiotic drops for his water and he was better in a week. :)

thanks!

I dropped some colloidal silver in her eyes, cleaned their cage, and gave her a few drops of the silver along with grape root in her mouth.

It sounds like Mycoplasmosis to me.
Rat & Mouse Gazette: Mycoplasmosis in the Pet Rat (http://www.rmca.org/Articles/myco.htm)
The symptoms you describe fit it to a "T"

:wah:

ok, screw the herbal stuff, I am calling a vet.

How's she doing, mama? :hug:

I hope the vet was able to help.

Our rats had that too.

We had to give them anti-biotics. One never really got over it despite the meds & passed away recently. The other one seems fine though.

For the eyes..we found breastmilk very helpful!!

uh, not lactating anytime soon!

i took them both to the vet, and $60 later I have a tiny bottle of antibiotics to give to her twice a day.
this morning her eyes were clear and now they are gunky again.

going to keep giving her the meds til they are gone. vet said her heart and lungs sounded clear and it was probably sn upper repiratory infection.

Upper respiratory infections are very common in rats.

Often they will come back. You can save some $$ by keeping the bottle & often pet stores will carry the anti-biotics for "pocket" pets. We ended up using one that is for birds, but is the same one recommended for rats.

There is a info on the net.

For the eyes you could also try boracic acid (is soothing) on a cotton ball & warm water. NOT to be confused with borax!! You will find boracic acid in the Pharmacy, non-prescription. An herb called eye-bright can be made into a tea and the tea can be used for the eyes. Also homeopathics or tissue salts (pestules or tablets) which are for respirator issues.

If you are giving anti-biotics you might want to also give pro-biotics to re-build the healthy bacteria in the rat's intestines. Ours liked them in whatever we gave them (on a grape for eg.)

thanks Kerri

well, she finished the antibiotics and has now progressed to rolling. She cant hold her head up straight, it leans to one side and she seems ot be pretty stressed out about the rolling, as she cant seem to gain her balance.

I dont know if she has eaten today or not, but I am holding her in a sling, and gave her some water via oral syringe. she has hardly sat still, seems to continue to roll around and it isnt cause she is her normal rat self.

I called the vet, who wants me ot bringher in as urgent care.

I dont have the money for this right now!

I care about her and am worried about her but I am going to try to find stuff online, or perhaps through here for her. If it is simply cleaning her eyes out or treating her with meds then I can do that without the $40 exam.....

please help!

Here you go!!

It sounds like she may have an ear infection.

Health Guide: Otitis Media, Otitis Interna / Labyrinthitis (http://ratguide.com/health/auricle_ear/otitis_media_otitis_interna_labyrinthitis.php)

It lists the meds at the bottom & what type & dosages. I'd take the list with you to the pet store so you can find which one you need and how much. You might end up having to go to the bird meds section to find what you need.

Poor little girl.

Also anything natural that would work for humans could work for her too.
You could use gently warmed garlic oil for her ears (natural anti-biotic) it is also a natural anti-biotic orally. I've heard great things about colloidal silver as well.

I hope this helps!



My dad had a peculiar ear infection which damaged the hairs in his inner ear. He felt like everthing was tilted. He wasn't even allowed to drive or ski. It did clear up after lots of anti-biotics, but he still gets the odd bout of dizziness or feeling out of balance.

thank you Kerri.

Heading to Pet Smart tomorrow, and thanks for the tip to check the bird area as well.

I don't know if she is eating at all, so I gave her some yogurt through the oral syringe, as well as some Herbs For Kids (cause she i smy other kid! lol)echinacea/goldenroot drops, mixed with Oregon Graperoot and applesauce.
I helped her wash it down with water through the syringe.

I am going to try and treat this with meds, if I can find any at the pet store.

She is in a cage with another female rat, and they have lived together since I got them from the same housing at a different pet store (which is now out of business). The other rat shows no symptoms of being ill.
I am not sure if seperating them at this point woudl be helpful or would it matter at all? They cuddle when they sleep.

update on Zinnia:

I took her to the vet. She thinks she might have a brain tumor, as she said her rolling was pretty severe and she mentioned putting her down.

I didn't mean to, but I did cry a little when she said that.

She said we could try more antibiotics, so I have another bottle to administer to her. I have also been feeding her yogurt and water through the syringe still.

My poor baby.

Oh, I am so sorry your sweet rattie is still not doing well. Amazing how attached we can get to our critters.

I hope that the anti-biotics work for Zinnia. Unfortunately, like humans, rats are prone to disease. Cancer is becoming more common not only in humans & rats, but also in dogs, cats, horses, etc.

Please keep us posted and give her a little rub behind the ears for me.

This morning I checked on Zinnia, and WOW!
She is doing much better!

She wasn't rolling, she wasn't limp and listless, I had to do my usual of sort of chasing her around the cage ot catch her to give her the meds.

I treated them both with pb on celery afterward, and she actually showed interest in it!

I am relieved.

I hope it was just an inner ear infection.

I am so glad Zinnia is doing so much better!!

It sounds like it was an ear infection as if it was a tumour the symptoms wouldn't have reversed so quickly!!

Sending some extra healing vibes to Zinnia. What a lucky rat she is that you are tending to her so well!!

:) thanks, Kerri.

Yeah, I've got that nurturing gene down pat.

I looovvve our little ratties.
The kids and I joke that they are their sisters.

We also call them our mini pigs, cause they get most of our table scraps.