Ok my boy has been scratching and scratching and digging in his ears for days.  I've yet to see a scab or any fleas.  My big boy has black fur.  I can't tell if I'm seeing lice eggs (or other eggs? mites? lice?) or if I'm seeing skin flakes from all the scratching.

I gave him a bath with kitten flea shampoo (which on the Rat Guide it says will treat for mites/lice, too) on Wednesday.  It didn't seem to do anything for him.  He's getting Children's Benadryl every 12 hours, and I've been giving him vegetable oil on some bread every day.  Still, there is no improvement.

Should I switch out his bedding (Carefresh Ultra, currently)?  Would that make a difference if he scratches even while out for play time?  Like I said in his other thread, I'm worried that he may have gotten something from his bag of bedding that I didn't freeze    It's in the freezer now before it gets used again.

Ugh, I just want my big squish to stop itching... it has got to be miserable!!!

Thanks for reading this and thank you for any ideas on how to help him out while he waits til Monday morning.  I'm definitely going to ask about the Ivermectin when we get there.

-jd

Unless you have other animals that have fleas, I don't think he would have fleas. I know I've seen a couple of posts about fleas in past threads, but I think it was when a cat/dog/other animal was badly infested. I could be wrong, so try a search and see what it pulls up.

Also : http://ratguide.com/health/integumentary_skin/ectoparasites.php

Mites are microscopic, and generally you can't see them at all. You can sometimes see lice, as small red ovals moving around on his skin. If you see what looks like dirt anywhere on his skin [black - dark brown in color] then it could very well be fleas. The white flakes on his fur could be from just scratching so much. If you want to be adventurous, see if you can separate his fur and take a peek at his skin. See what you can see.

How long has he been on the Carefresh? Is it possible he's developing a reaction to it? Although I would think the benedryl would help supress that if it was just allergies.. I would take him off of that, and try some fabric or papertowels. If you have any scrap fleece, that would be just fine.. If you've been giving him the oil, it shouldn't be a dry skin issue. I don't think.. I've never had boys, and the girls only get oiled bread a couple of times a month to keep them glossy, heh.

We had a problem with fleas a few weeks ago.  Mom's cats got it from her dog... then my ratties got it from my old cat that stays in my room most of the time.  However, I think all that has cleared up.  I'm not seeing any "flea dirt" on anyone.

I've been trying to look at his skin as much as possible.  I haven't seen a thing except for the little flakes of white in his fur.

He's been on the Carefresh since I brought him home on Tuesday.  I don't recall if he was itching before I put him in his cage.  Going to try the different bedding thing now.  Wish us luck!

Poor Kerfuffle, if its not one thing its another. 

If its ecto-parasites he won't stop scratching but at least he's off the buggy bedding.  I dose every rat that comes thru the door with Revolution...or I try to. 

Have you taken a good look at his fur?  Lice like to hang out on his back towards his tail (harder for him to scratch there).  You will see them.  Mites you won't being microscopic.  Does he have any scabs from scratching?  I think mites like to hang out around the neck area, so he would be trying to scratch there as well.

The dust from the CareFresh may have been causing the sneezing. Alot of people have had issues with dusty CareFresh lately. I did, too, come ot think of it. Have an unopen bag sitting under the Rat Case..

Good luck, Kerfuffle! Keep us updated!

Ooooooooook another update!

My big boy finished his round of Baytril, and he is still all sneezy and itchy.  I thought that maybe the antibiotics calmed down his sneezes a bit, but if so, not much at all. 

When I spoke to my vet today, she said she is perplexed.  Since we don't know his history, he could have had a bad respiratory infection in his past which has left him permanently sneezy.  His itchiness is still another unsolved mystery.  Hopefully, when he gets his second dose of Ivomec, he will be cured!

So we're trying Prednisolone.  We're hoping this will at least stop his sneezes and maybe as a bonus, help with his itching.  Maybe he's just allergic to the world!

Wish us luck

Prednisolone is the active metabolite of prednisone.  We're trying it out for the sneezing to see if it's caused by allergies since the Baytril didn't help.  I agree, though, that trying another antibiotic seems the way to go.  I imagine that's what will come next should this not help my boy out.

Kerfuffle hasn't wheezed at all, and his nasal discharge is clear rather than red (even that icky thing he left on my finger at the vet).

I hope my itchy boy doesn't have mites   The vet has looked a few times now to see if she could spot them.

Skin scrapes, I'm assuming.  She's been using a microscope.

And yeah, I've disinfected everything I can think of in the room and in both cages.  The reason we're thinking it's allergies is due to the fact he hasn't had any relief

The other ratties weren't treated with Ivermectin since they've shown no signs of itching.  They're across the room from him, but I didn't even think about that... Perhaps they should get a couple doses as well?

If you're handling one set of rats after the other, you could be very well transmitting the mites back and forth. Even though the girls aren't itching, doesn't mean they don't have mites. There are dozens of ways for the mites to reinfest, and they are very difficult to get rid of.

Rats, in general, naturally have mites present on them. Healthy rats are able to keep the mite population in check. Skin scrapes come back with a false negative because of this. Rats that have a compromized immune system [from a URI or other illness] the mites get out of control.

As for the sneezing.. If it had been allergies, the benedryl should have given him some relief. As Wonderrodent said, allergies really aren't all that common. It sounds more like a URI. How long was he on the Baytril for? You should probably try a another antibiotic [Doxycycline, Zithromax, etc..] to see if those help any. I would bet that once his sneezing clears up, his itching decreases after some treatment.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

I noticed my girls scratching this morning.  All of them.  Quite a bit.  I've decided it HAS to be mites, so I went and got everyone some Ivomec.

My big boy is STILL sneezing.  So I talked to the vet.  We've decided to give up on the allergy theory.  I asked if we could try another antibiotic.  My big boy now has 10+ days worth of Panmycin (tetracycline liquid) to try out.

I'm going to be giving everyone their Ivomec tonight.  Should I clean everything before or after the dose?

Thanks for all the help.  Wish my fuzzbutts luck!