My rat is very sick :(

AnnShh · Apr 26, 2011

My rat is very sick. He's had a couple URI's since I've had him that were solved by antibiotics. He went way down hill over the 3 day weekend... lost a lot of weight, trying hard to breathe, etc. I was panicing because the closest vet that will treat rats is 1.5 hours away. I frantically called around the vets here in Oxford because I was desperate enough that I decided I'd just ask to see if I could find one who would put him down to end his suffering. One of the receptionists I talked to said that she knew of a guy who used to work with lab rats back in the day and he might be able to help as he now runs a vet practice 10 minutes from where I live.

I called him and he didn't specifically treat rats but he has done so in the past and was willing to see me. I brought him in and he said that he has abscesses on his lungs from Mycoplasma. He put him on Baytril to try and pull him through it. He said he wouldnt throw in the towel yet as we might be able to help him but that it's a shot in the dark. If he doesn't show any signs of improvement by Monday then I will take him to have him euthanized

Anyone here have a rat pull through this? I want to try my best to get him through this but I won't let him suffer if he doesn't show any signs of improvement.

avecat6906 · Apr 26, 2011

I've never gone through this but I have had many rats as pets. I know how easy it is to get attached to the little cuties. It doesn't sound good but I hope that he pulls through. Good luck with your rattie :heart5:

Siany · Apr 26, 2011

Im sorry about your rat and i hope he pulls through. You never know he might make it and im keeping my fingers crossed for you.

tunes · Apr 26, 2011

Did he do x-rays? I am not sure how he would know there were abscesses in his lungs otherwise.

If he's that bad, I would be doing a combo - either Baytril and Doxycycline or Baytril and Clavamox. Baytril alone most likely won't help if he's got such a long history of URIs. You can also use a nebulizer to help him breath.

With the weight loss and so forth, did he check for congestive heart failure?

menagerie · Apr 27, 2011

How long was he on antibiotics each time previously? How many times has he been treated? How long has he suffered from respiratory problems? How old is he? Rats need to be treated for a minimum of 21 days with antibiotics. Otherwise you are just knocking down the symptoms and not wiping out the infection. In severe cases, I often treat for 30 days.

I don't bother with the baytril / doxy combo anymore. I use either baytril and clavamox or baytril and cefa-drops. When it comes to clavamox, we use the dose recommended in BSAVA Manual of Rodents and Ferrets which is much higher than what is called for in the Exotic Animal Formulary, but works so much better (100mg/kg , PO, q12hrs).

AnnShh · Apr 28, 2011

Let me just first say that this was a very... redneck (not meaning to be offensive, but I can't think of any other term) vet in backwoods Mississippi. So his exam and treatment plan are probably very different and not as good as other vets. This guy said the lab rats that he used to work with often got the abscesses on the lungs and that he's seen it enough to know just by the symptoms. Whether thats true or not I don't know. He gave me the antibiotics to last me til next week- if there's improvement then we well keep on them and if not then we will try something else and/or euthanize. I wish I could get him to a better vet, but I just can't get him to one that's over 1.5 hours away at this point. I took him to this vet with the mindset of "it's better than doing nothing". Whenever I get my truck back (It's being fixed and the pick up date keeps getting pushed back) then I'll be able to get him an appt with a much better vet.