Young rats with pneumonia

Question
Hi Sandra, first off I just wanna say how helpful and wonderful the info is that you and the other experts from this site give us rat owners, thanks! I was hoping you could give me advice I've been very concerned over 2 young female rats we recently bought from a pet shop. Brief history: I'm guessing they were approx 1 month old when we got them (about 2 months old now), and a few days after getting them home the older one (Mickey) started severe sneezing with nose rubbing and making really loud dove sounds whenever she was sleeping, she was also really vocal when awake making chirping type noises. The younger one (Teddy) seemed fine, though she also had occasional porphryin discharge mainly from the nose. They both eat well and I use carefresh in their litter and shredded eco-paper in cage.

I took them to the exotic rodent/bird vet and she said that Mickey had pneumonia and put her on 0.09cc of Baytril for 21 days, and decided to treat Teddy too with 0.06cc of Baytril for 10 days since they were cage-mates,(eventho she was not sick at all at the time, vet said it couldn't do any harm if she doesn't end up catching the pneumonia). After 2 days of Baytril, Teddy began to get sick by having loud clicking gasping attacks a few times a day. Teddy's gasping went away after a few days of Baytril and now it's been two weeks on Baytril and Teddy is alright except for sneezing, occasional porphryin discharge, increased yelping protests and sleeping lots (I'm keeping her on Baytril because I've read it's not wise to do less than 30 days).

Mickey however has only midly improved in that the noises she makes are quiter but still present, she sounds LESS congested but has recently begun breathing noisey sometimes (like a dry 'hissing' type sound, sort of like when a persons nose whistles). She's still sneezing and rubbing her nose hard, sleeps a lot during the day while making quieter chirping sounds. Luckily she has never been gasping at all. The vet said it can often take the full 21 days before improvement.

Anyways after doing extensive research from MANY sites including yours, yesterday I went back to the vet just to speak with them. I was concerned about giving Baytril to my young rats and asked about Zithromax instead (which they'd never heard of and said it must only be avail. in the U.S). They said Baytril is mainly only a risk for young cats and dogs and NOT a concern for young rats under 3 months since it could only effect digestion and not growth or bone developpment as I had suggested to them! They wanted to add metacam for inflammation, but I preferred not too. They also said rats couldn't tolerate chocolate.

Anyways after much discussion I ended up leaving with another 3 weeks worth of Baytril (for both rats) and 30 days of Doxycycline, 0.05cc for Mickey and 0.03cc for Teddy (Teddy I don't know if I should give unless she worsens)?

My questions are whether 5 weeks of Baytril and now Doxycycline are advised for both my young rats in this situation (even Teddy?), what are your recommendations? And is Mickey's improvement adequate after 2 weeks on Baytril? Though they're nocturnal I really don't know if it's normal for them sleep so much during the day at approx 2 months old,(they are eating fine and still socializing)? Your advice is much appreciated, sorry for the lengthy message but we are very concerned since we already adore these little rats so much!

Answer

Sounds like the vet needs a bit of education. To suggest it takes 21 days for infection to respond to an antibiotic is just absurd.

If the medication is working it should start to work within 12 hours and improvement should show within 2 days.

I would not stop the medication unless there are no signs of illness.  For the record, rats CAN have some chocolate and they also DO have trouble with their development when given baytril at a young age. When the benefits outweigh the risks though, its best to use the baytril.

I wish I could check the credentials of your vet.