can rats catch each others respitory infections - don't want to loose another

[toni]

Yesterday morning Darwin died of a respatory infection. Since then his two cage mates and brothers have been very down and seem deppressed. However one of the two remaining guys has compeletly chnaged, he used to be a devil rat and since around the death has been very uncharacteristically inactive, he also seems to be breathing heavy and is quite fluffed up and a little cold. I don't think he is eating or drinking much either. Will obv. call a vet, but wanted to know whether you guys had any similar experiences. Do you think that it is just sadness because he lost his brother or can they catch each others  colds/infections.

Any info appreciated.

Toni and Dickie-doodles.

[Sunilata]

I don't think they can catch a myco infection, but it could be that the stress of losing their brother lowered their immune systems enough so that they developed an infection of their own. Also, have you tested for SDA/Sendai? They can *definitely* catch those. SDA and Sendai are lethal viruses that are very contagious from rat-to-rat.

[brandy]

If it's definitely myco, then no.  All rats have myco in their lungs (gets passed down from their mothers when they're born), but most have strong enough immune systems to keep it under control. So what matters is whether the other rats can keep fighting it like they normally do.

However, there are viruses like SDA and Sendai that rats CAN pass to each other, and can be very deadly especially when paired with a secondary problem like a myco flareup.

I would definitely talk to your vet and rule out any viruses. If possible, take Darwin's body in for a necropsy to be 100% sure what he died of.

[Sugarfoxx]

They can catch the secondary infection that caused their illness especially if it was a strep infection.

I hate to say for you to give the animal antibiotics when they are not sick just to prevent it.....but I would request a necropsy to see what caused the rats illness (bacteria or viral etc...)
It may be too late for that and of course many results dont come back that fast.

But anyhow, yes, they can transmit may infections via the air.
I would see what the vet suggests.    I had an SDA outbreak here and we had all 24 rats on meds to prevent secondary infections.