Great fleas have little fleas upon their backs to bite 'em,
And little fleas have lesser fleas, and so ad infinitum.
So wrote the mathematician Augustus de Morgan. It's true, you know.
If you've read Witter's story, you know we adopted him because of mites (and if you don't know his story, take a moment to check out the link--we're not going anywhere).
The mites are back, seemingly with a vengeance. I noticed he was getting scabby and, on Monday, I gave him a couple of squirts of Frontline. It's what we treated everyone with in May, when they all had lice, and Witter had mites. It worked then, and I figure it would work now.
(By the way, I forgot to mention Witter was also scratching himself a lot. I don't recommend automatically squirting rats with Frontline every time you see a scab; things such as diet and injury (duh) can also result in a scabby rat.)
Tuesday, though, the area around his eye was scratched and bloody. I figure the mites migrated from his body to his face, and I can't spray there. He looked awful--like he had gone a few rounds with Mike Tyson. And he was still scratching a lot.
Abita and I decided a vet visit was in order, out of concern for his eye, and to myself, maybe treating the mites a bit more aggresively. The problem was which vet to take him to.
Our regular vet, Dr. G, is fantastic. But I'm sorry to say his office is more than five miles away, and his hours are 8 AM to 6 PM, M-F, and that's not exactly convenient for me, for what I see as a minor problem. Even on a drop-off basis, I can't get to work before 10.
There is another exotics vet available who I like (we checked her out with one of my guinea pigs, and Abita is friends with one of the vet techs there) but similar problems. Kind of difficult to get to, especially during rush hour, and limited hours.
However, walking distance from the house, is a new vet who handles exotics. I talked to the receptionist a bit on Tuesday...on Tuesdays and Thursdays their office hours are until 7 PM. Much more convenient for me.
I feel you can't have too many vets, and a minor problem is a good opportunity to see how your vet handles your pet--you get to see her in action, talk to her, listen to what questions she asks you, how she answers your questions...you walk out with an idea of how she would handle your pet in an emergency. So, I made an appointment, and we saw Dr. K tonight.
I'm happy to say I have a real good feeling about Dr. K. She gave Witter a thorough exam (no fecal test, even though he gave us plenty of samples), asked lots of questions--ones you'd think a vet would ask, such as about diet and medical history, plus a few others you might not think of, but Abita and I, as rat people, were glad to hear: What is his bedding? How big is his cage?
And she kept calling him, "Beautiful." Good sign, that.
She couldn't determine what was causing the itching, but that doesn't count as a strike against her. She tried the scotch-tape trick (Stick a piece of tape against rat; look at tape under microscope. The idea is the little vermin stick to the tape, and stay still long enough for you to figure out what they are), but while there weren't any lice or mites on the tape, that might mean there just weren't any beneath the tape where it was stuck.
Of course, it could mean Witter doesn't have mites, and the problem is something else. But...Witter is in general good health. His appetite is good, he's active, he's grooming. He doesn't look sick, which means he probably isn't.
So we're gonna treat for mites. The treatment for mites won't harm Witter (if done properly. As with any treatment, problems occur if it's done improperly); either he'll stop scratching, which means the treatment worked and the lice/mites are gone, or he'll keep scratching, which means there's something else, and we start checking other things.
I've decided on a slighly more aggresive treatment: Ivermectin injections. Basically, the injection will make Witter poisonous to whatever parasite bites him. The problem is with the dose: Too much and Witter is toast. It's a slightly risky treatment, and I know of some rat people who have lost their rats to a too-strong dose, but I'd really like Witter to be parasite-free, and I wonder just how good a job the Frontline did the first time.
Witter will get his first injection this Saturday, then again about ten days later. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
Posted by Publius at September 4, 2003 09:26 PM