Nova Has Allergies/Allergic Rhinosinusitis
Hello again, readers,
Today we decided to discuss Nova's allergies, and how we've managed to 'deal' with them. Technically speaking, we sadly cannot cure Nova from her allergies (which seem to be dust-sensitive), but we can help alleviate some of her symptoms to improve her quality of life. So, we wanted to talk about the approach we've taken for our special little girl.
Firstly, we went to the vet with both Nova and Shmi as both girls had been developing rattly breathing and excessive sneezing. Though both girls had similar symptoms - their triggers were different. We were particularly concerned about Nova showing signs of respiration difficulties at such a young age (approx 6 months at the time) - it lead the vet to question us on a couple of factors at home. They didn't want to start pumping Nova full of antibiotics and other medications if she didn't need it - it can cause more harm than good.
Firstly, the vet wanted to ensure the location and cleanliness of the cage was up to scratch. Once we had successfully ruled that out, they proceeded to ask us about the bedding choice, cage size, and the number of rats within the mischief (to rule out over-crowding). The vet was mostly happy, though they made a recommendation to change the bedding from Fitch to a less-dusty bedding.
We were more than happy to make some amendments. After some research, we decided to go for Finacard bedding. We particularity liked the natural appearance, and how it still left our rats with the ability to forage, burrow, and express other natural behaviors - plus, it was much less dusty too!
Shmi didn't show much improvements - but there will be a separate post on that topic! On the other hand, Nova seemed to show pretty significant improvements. This lead the vet to believe that Nova was either extremely dust sensitive, or had allergies to the dust.
Due to Nova's incredibly tiny size, we didn't think anti-histamines would've been suitable at this point in time.
We also took it upon ourselves to buy an air-purifier - which is now left on 24/7 near the does cage. It certainly hasn't cured it, and it would be unrealistic to completely eradicate 100% of the dust particles - but none the less, it helped.
When Nova has extremely severe flare ups, we find a weeks course of nebulisation therapy with normal Saline (0.9% sodium chloride) works absolute wonders too.
Nova continues to lead a high quality life after making a couple of amendments to our ratty care!
Today we decided to discuss Nova's allergies, and how we've managed to 'deal' with them. Technically speaking, we sadly cannot cure Nova from her allergies (which seem to be dust-sensitive), but we can help alleviate some of her symptoms to improve her quality of life. So, we wanted to talk about the approach we've taken for our special little girl.
Firstly, we went to the vet with both Nova and Shmi as both girls had been developing rattly breathing and excessive sneezing. Though both girls had similar symptoms - their triggers were different. We were particularly concerned about Nova showing signs of respiration difficulties at such a young age (approx 6 months at the time) - it lead the vet to question us on a couple of factors at home. They didn't want to start pumping Nova full of antibiotics and other medications if she didn't need it - it can cause more harm than good.
Firstly, the vet wanted to ensure the location and cleanliness of the cage was up to scratch. Once we had successfully ruled that out, they proceeded to ask us about the bedding choice, cage size, and the number of rats within the mischief (to rule out over-crowding). The vet was mostly happy, though they made a recommendation to change the bedding from Fitch to a less-dusty bedding.
We were more than happy to make some amendments. After some research, we decided to go for Finacard bedding. We particularity liked the natural appearance, and how it still left our rats with the ability to forage, burrow, and express other natural behaviors - plus, it was much less dusty too!
Shmi didn't show much improvements - but there will be a separate post on that topic! On the other hand, Nova seemed to show pretty significant improvements. This lead the vet to believe that Nova was either extremely dust sensitive, or had allergies to the dust.
Due to Nova's incredibly tiny size, we didn't think anti-histamines would've been suitable at this point in time.
We also took it upon ourselves to buy an air-purifier - which is now left on 24/7 near the does cage. It certainly hasn't cured it, and it would be unrealistic to completely eradicate 100% of the dust particles - but none the less, it helped.
When Nova has extremely severe flare ups, we find a weeks course of nebulisation therapy with normal Saline (0.9% sodium chloride) works absolute wonders too.
Nova continues to lead a high quality life after making a couple of amendments to our ratty care!
You can keep up with Nova on our Instagram.
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