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About Sandra Conti-Todd
Expertise
NOTE: I am sorry for any long delays in responses. I have been going through some personal issues with my life but things are looking up for me and I am getting my life back on track again and will promise to be here for all rat lovers to help guide you on proper care. Love to all of you! To request a telephone consultation, please email sandyscrittercity@yahoo.com. in order to schedule a date and time that is feasible for both you and I. There is no time limit on weekends or after 99pm M-F or if your cell phone carrier is Verizon Wireless. There is no charge for a telephone consultation. I offer my advice free of charge since my goal is to simply keep your rats happy and healthy for as long as possible. My reward is knowing that people learning as much as they can on rat care in order to provide the best care possible. Thats all I need to know. You cant put a price tag on love:) As one of the top experts here at allexperts for 2008, I am happy to be able to help advise others on the proper care of pet rats. I am a rat care specialist/advisor for area vets and have 20 plus years experience working with rodents. I can advise you on the most current treatments available to your rat for common and also complicated ailments that seem to affect domestic rats during their life time. I do telephone consults and have even had some wonderful Vets call me to compare notes/stories. I also have training in animal behavior with the main focus being the study of rodent behavior. I also have experience with wild rats, raising one myself .

Experience
My expertise Includes the following: 1. Education on prevention of tumors, lung and heart disease and disease of the kidneys too. 2. Up to date treatments for tumors in rats,both benign or malignant tumors. 3. The most current treatments used successfully to treat lung and heart disease 4. Prevention and treatment of the mycoplasma organism that our rats are plagued with since the day they are born, among other common ailments that attack our rats, just to name a few. My job as a rodent consultant is to educate the owner on proper care of the animal but in no way does my advice take the place of seeking professional treatment by a qualified Veterinarian. However, I will contribute to this site by answering your questions about raising pet rats and any problems that may arise regarding their health, diet, husbandry and over all well being of the rat to **the best of my ability.**

Organizations
I maintain my website, Critter City and update it often to keep up with current treatments concerning pet rat health care. Please click the link above to take you there!

Publications
My own website of course, and also I have brochures on rat care that are found in various animal clinics in my area.

Education/Credentials
Mentored by highly noted exotic specialists in my area.
I am a member of the ASPCA.

Awards and Honors
Was honored by being chosen to be one of the top 50 experts of 2008

Past/Present Clients
My past clients have been through various animal clinics and I also am mentor to new rat owners that reach me through here and my website too.

You are here: Experts > Animals/Pets > Exotic Pets > Pet Rats > SDA

Pet Rats - SDA

Expert: Sandra Conti-Todd - 10/29/2009

Question
QUESTION: I bought two fancy rats from a pet shop that were fine for about two weeks. One was leaving with my room mate because he was moving in with his girlfriend and his rat lived with my two. So we got these babies, so my roomie could have a partner for his rat to take to his new home. I bought the other one just because I wanted to. They both came home and took to the other rats quickly. The two (the adult and the baby) moved to their new home about a week ago. Yesterday both the babies got sick at the same time LITERALLY. One died within a few hours, the other about 24 hours later, from SDA. They had been with the healthy rats this whole time so we took the healthy rats in today and they got shots of Baytril. Im terrified Im going to lose them all! Im going to get more meds tomorrow, even though they arent showing any serious signs of illness. One is kinda sneezing alittle but thats it. What are the chances that they have this disease, and do I have any chance of saving them? PLEASE HELP!!

ANSWER: How do you know the rat had SDA? SDA is not usually fatal like that, not that fast. What signs of illness did the rat have? ALso, SDA is a virus, which means baytril will do nothing for it.

I do not think the babies had SDA to be honest but if they did, chances your other rats will get it are high. The vet must test the rats 3 weeks after they are sick to determine if they have the virus and since they died, the vet should have done a necropsy to find out cause of death.

To avoid SDA, rat owners should always do a 3 week quarantine in a separate disease.

http://www.sandyscrittercity.com/thequarantinepage.htm

Sounds more like the babies had something congenital. I am very sorry for your loss.

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

QUESTION: The rats were fine one minute, then the next they became lethargic and dehydrated. Now one of my other rats is actually showing signs of the illness as well. The vet has them on Gentocin and amox drops. My vet talked to a rqat expert at Texas A&M and he called me and told me he had to put the rats on a diff antibiotic that I have to go get from the pharmacy tomorrow. I wish I would have known to quarantine the new babies, but I had never read or thought of it before. Im afraid Im going to lose them all no matter what I do. My vet is not a rat expert, so he has been talking to other ppl that are and gets different answers. Im so frustrated I feel like I just have to sit here and watch my rats die. We believe it is a secondary infection.

ANSWER: Sounds like strep pneumoniae, which is very contagious. It has nothing to do with strep throat, so dont get confused. The medication the rats are on is a great drug, and I would have suggested using gentocin as well. Amoxil will also help if it is indeed secondary infection which I also agree. Just hang in there and keep me posted. Your doing all you can right now.

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

QUESTION: Ok so we have the babies on amox and Gentocin. Another rat expert suggested switching them to Doxy, and two others instead of the amox. They seem to be doing MUCH better just on the other two. I know they dont attack the mycoplasm, but they seem to be responding so well to just the amox and Gentocin I thought I should just stick to that for now. They are just sneezing a bit when they get excited. What do you think, should I switch? And how long should I have them on the meds, I read that some vets dont give them to the rats long enough and the infection comes back.

Answer

No dont switch.

Just because the rat has respiratory illness doesnt mean its always related to mycoplasmosis.

I still feel its strep related and the two meds being used now are the best that can be used.

Doxy is not the strongest drug around so I would not change a thing if they are responding.

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