Expert: Sandra Todd - 6/23/2008

Question
QUESTION: Hello, My daughter is taking care of the class pet for part of the summer.  He sneezes several times a day.  From what I am told, that is normal for him and he did that at school often.  However, he has been scratching himself to the point were he starts bleeding.  I noticed a couple dried blood spots.  I checked him for ticks because I have a golden retriever and I wasn't sure what the hard spot was. That is when I noticed the dried blood spots.  Today I noticed there were fresh blood spots on my hand when I was holding him.  He has a couple spots that are scabbed over and it looks like he scratched the spot bald.  I am not sure what to do.  I talked to the teacher and he wasn't sure what to do either.  Do you have any suggestions.  I'm not sure if this is from anxiety or if he is sick and needs some type of treatment.  I hope you can help answer my questions or reassure me.  Thank you so much,  Jeannie Schimdt

ANSWER: Hi Jeannie


There are several reasons why a rat can become itchy and develop sores from scratching.  It stems from fur mites to poor diet that is too high in protein or even something more simple such as dry skin.

Starting with the process of elimination (and I am going to ask you do to an exam for me, you can be my eyes and hands since I cannot examine him)

Sneezing daily when a rat first comes to a new home is fairly common because of all the new smells they take in and sometimes their excitement makes their histamine levels go up which in turn, sneezing starts. Once the stimuli is removed, the sneezing subsides. However, if the rat has been sneezing all the time, there may be a chance that there is something in the cage that is causing it which is why I am asking these few things now.

What type of bedding is he on and what kind of housing does he live in; cage or glass tank?   The answers to these two questions are very important.

Next, check his fur very carefully looking for very tiny mites that may move across the skin.  Carefully examine the fur and see if you notices any types of nits that may be attached to the fur. Does the coat seem dull? Does his fur seem as if it were singed with fire and broken, like really bad split ends?

Do you notice dry skin or patches of orange waxy substance on his skin?

Next I must ask about his diet. What kind of food does he eat daily?
A diet high in protein not only causes skin problems but it is also very bad for their kidneys and kidney disease will eventually set in as the rat ages.

Once we go over the answers to these questions I will be able to hopefully come up with some reasons for the rats skin problems and how to resolve it.

Hope to hear from you soon!


For more information on skin problems, please check my website:
http://www.freewebs.com/crittercity/skinproblems.htm


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hello again.  The type of bedding is called Care Fresh Ultra Pet Bedding. His housing is a 24L X 15H X 12W cage.  I did a complete check and I did not find any mites or anything that looked like nits.  His skin does not appear to be dry and I did not find any orange waxy substance on his skin. I did find several scabbed over spots from about his shoulder to his front with more on the left side by his chin/neck.  His coat appears to be shiny and healthy and I don't see any split ends or frayed ends.  Overall, he looks very healthy.  He is very friendly and his activity level has not changed.  His diet consists of Nutriphase Gold Mouse & Rat Formula.  My daughter said he loves peanuts and sunflower seeds.  I think she picked those out and gave him extras of those.  He also gets a couple carrot sticks and celery sticks a day.  He did eat one small piece of broccoli from my garden.  I hope this helps.  I look forward to hearing back from you.  The only thing I can think of his change to our house and maybe the extra sunflower and peanuts messed up his diet and this is the reaction from it.  Thank you for being so prompt.  I can't wait to get a response.  Jeannie Schmidt

Answer
Everything sounds good but his diet.   

The peanuts and sunflower seeds along with the poor diet (nutriphase) is loaded with proteins and fats and would probably be the culprit in his itchy state. It is also very taxing on his kidneys and this is one of the top cause of premature death in rats *kidney disease*

I would switch him from the seed diet first chance you get.

A good rodent block (pet stores only carry mazuri brand which is fairly acceptable)  but you can also make your own rat chow too if you want.
They love both vegetables, fruits and meats (high quality animal protein only such as beef livers or white chicken breast etc...) even a high quality dog food such as nutro light dog food is better than the seed mixes.

Here is the URL for more info:
http://www.freewebs.com/crittercity/ratsandahealthydiet.htm

Just an example of the various foods used in the rat mixes:

1 lb box of tri-color pasta uncooked or semi cooked (may be called whacky mac)

1 lb box of whole wheat pasta

1 container of rolled oats

1 bag of puffed rice

1 bag of puffed wheat

Small amount of sunflower seeds

1 box of Total cereal

1 box low fat granola

Dried cranberries

Nutro lite dog food

Mix together and it lasts FOREVER, you can even freeze half of it to keep it fresh.
***************
Now about those sores:  You can apply a thin coat of cortisone cream on all of his itchy spots (over the counter) and also put neosporin or a generic triple antibiotic ointment on the bloodied scabs. If the cortisone cream doesnt work you can try benadryl cream but I prefer the cortisone cream or hydrocortisone, which ever you can find is fine.
You can keep him busy for at least a few minutes for it to absorb and wait about an hour and apply the antibiotic ointment. Do this at least three times a day.  Let me know how things are in about a week, but his diet does need adjusted or this problem may persist.

Hope this helps!