Are allergies common to Ratties? All summer, Rocky has been rubbing his eyes with the sides of his paws. He doesn't do this during the winter so I'm assuming this is due to some sort of seasonal allergy. He also seems to be quite allergic to bees. Last summer, he got stung 4+ times in the face and neck. He swelled up so much that he looked like a bull terrier. He didn't have any serious reactions other than a lot of swelling and discomfort. A couple of weeks ago he had a similar reaction. Only this time, we have no idea what he got into. We had our little bull terrier back again. Unfortunately, this time the benadryl only made him sleepy, it didn't reduce the swelling. I'm wondering if this is a common thing for Ratties and if so, are there other, more serious, reactions I should look out for?

Our vet claims that allergies are one of few health issues that many ratties have.  Our poor Ralph has a bad case of them, which require him to be steriods most of the summer.  Good thing we live in the area of the country where it is cold 9 months out of the year!!!  Ralph licks his paws raw when his alergies flare up and also gets itchy watery eyes.  Benadryl seems to keep things in check during the low pollen months, the vet said you can also get shots for dogs when the over the counter drugs don't work.

Hmmmm, that's interesting MB.  I'm thinking, now that you mention it, since changing to Natural Balance KS is not licking her paws as much.  But, I used Nutro before and it doesn't have corn.  I have her on the allergy formula NB now.  ????? I wonder if that's helped.