Title: Respiratory Issues
Headings: 
Respiratory issues
Bacterial Infection – Myco
Bacterial infection – Pasturella
Bacterial infection – Other
Viral infections
Lung Abscessing / consolidation
Preventative Measures – Respiratory Issues
What to expect from the Vet – Respiratory issues
More Information

Content: There have even been cases reported of pet rats picking them up from wild rats who were able to break into the same airspace. There are always risks but with sensible precautions (such as quarantining – see later) this is manageable whilst still having contact with other rats and there owners. ​
To identify if your rats have a virus you need to look at the group, viruses will spread across the entire group so whilst some may show few symptoms you would expect more than one rat to get ill at the same time. Viruses unfortunately do not respond to antibiotics, though it can trigger a secondary bacterial infection (so it can be worth putting them on something like baytril and amoxicillin or septrin). Typically treatment involves supporting the rats own immune system via easy to digest foods, keeping them warm and adding in an anti-inflammatory to help minimise the respiratory symptoms. In a severe outbreak you may not have time to treat the rats as susceptible rats can pass on within hours. If you suspect an outbreak the most important thing to do is to quarantine your rats from contact with any other rat owner (and take precautions before visiting another person’s rats yourself). You should also let anyone else who has had contact with you / your rats in the past 2-3 weeks know so they can do the same as well as monitor there rats. Without this viruses can be spread to many other homes and put more rats at risk. Lung Abscessing / consolidation
This is a particular type of bacterial infection, I’ve differentiated it as it can present different symptoms.