Upper Respiratory Ailments are one of the most common rattie sicknesses. As there are no vaccinations to prevent illness in rats any disease can spread rapidly. The first thing to understand with Upper Respiratory Disease is prevention. You can help prevent this horrible and often deadly problem.

Here is a good article by the National Rat Fanciers Society

http://www.nfrs.org/respdisease.html

Here are some of the prevention steps we use at Lavender Haven:

1. We are a closed rattery to the public-Unknowingly people that own rats or have even just stopped at a friend's house or pet store can bring a virus into your rattery. We ask that no one that owns rats or has been lately to a pet store (that day) enter the rat room.

2. Healthy diets- by keeping your rattie healthy you can help them to fight off disease

3. We frequently give our rats "Eachinasia" which helps stimulate and strengthen immunity

4. Strict Quarantine Procedures- by using quarantines and keeping to them strictly you can monitor rats coming into your rattery and rats that may become sick for disease. Here is a great article on quarantine by the RSA-Rat Society of America- http://www.ratsociety.org/quarantine.html

5. Don't take rats from ratteries you are not familiar with or that you have not researched

Treatment

Consult your veternarian. There are several antibiotics avaiable to help aid in treating upper respiratory infections. Be careful not to abuse anti-biotics as it will create resilant strains of the bacteria.