Mycoplasma is a very common rat disease and almost all rats
have it. The most visible symptoms are sneezing and wheezing. If left on its
own for long enough, the disease also causes gasping for air. Mycoplasma is
also called mycoplasmosis . It is an incurable respiratory disease that easily
spreads from rat to rat but never from rat to people. It can move from an
infected pet to another pet through direct contact, via the air, or through an
owner touching an infected pet and then proceeding to touch a healthy,
uninfected pet. Deficiencies in vitamin A and E can increase the severity of
the symptoms, so do repeated exposure to cigarette smoke and ammonia
accumulated in the cage from rat's urine.
Mycoplasma causes blisters on the surface of a rat's lungs.
Left untreated, it can also cause lung abscesses, emphysema, and uterus
infection for female rats. Besides the sneezing, rats that have the disease
usually looks fine. They eat well and show nothing wrong during their
activities as if they are completely healthy. However, when the disease reaches
an advanced stage, they begin to show signs that all is not well.
To slow down, or halt the progress of the disease,
antibiotics are required. The usual antibiotics used are doxycycline,
erythromycin, tylosin, baytril, and sometimes, although it's less preferred by
many pet rat owners, tetracycline. You can tell if the treatment is successful
when your pets stop sneezing. For infected pets where the disease is already in
a very advance stage, it is best to seek the help of a veterinarian. They can
help you combat the disease and stop its advance.
According to some owners, the antibiotic tylosin can
completely cure a pet rat suffering from mycoplasma if the infected pet is
still under 10 months old. So far, this report has not been properly documented
yet. It is worth a try however, just to see if it really works. If it doesn't
eradicate the disease from the rat's system, at least tylosin might be able to stop
it's spread to stop the symptoms that may be bothering your pet.
Mycoplasma to rats is like the common cold to people. It
spreads easily like a cold, and it is also incurable. The symptoms however can
be treated. It is best to give rats some antibiotic the moment you notice them
sneezing more than usual. This way, you prevent the disease from going into a
more advance state and causing more damage to your pet rats.
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