Repository issues wont go away

Question
Hello sandra,
My dear rat meryl has been sick on and off since
june. She's
always shown signs of mycro, but recently it's
been getting
out of control. Months ago  sHe had pneumonia
which  
cleared up with aggressive treatment with a
baytril and
doxy combination. Since then she has dropped a
lot of
weight over time(a year ago she was 330grams
and now
shes 244).
Almost everyday she has these attacks. I call
thJem attacks
because they remind me of a mixture of panic/
asthma
attacks. They start as this wild burst of energy.
She'll panic
and rapidly chew on the bars or jump to the top
and drop
down. This alarmed me so I took her to my vet.
he put her
on baytril and saw no real improvement, so I
suggested
that it could be heart failure, so he performed an
xray and it
showed she had fluid and scaring in her lungs,
but no signs
of any heart issues. He then put her on
trimethsulfa which
yielded a bit of improvement. She gained weight
and it
reduced the number of 'attacks'. She had been
on sulfa for
about three weeks until she started getting worse
again.
She's been to the vet five times and nothing has
changed.
Its hard watching her go through this. I wish I
knew what I
was dealing with. I'm starting to feel like she's
suffering and
I should act upon that. if you could send me just
the
slightest bit of insight I would be so grateful.
What could we
be dealing with?  My little meryl is a fighter, if I
could only
do more. Thank you for taking your time. I hope
to hear
back from you.

Skye & Meryl

Answer
Sounds like she has chronic lung disease and scarring on her lungs from chronic myco.  Please refer to my site, sandyscrittercity.com and check out the index to rat illnesses referring to myco and also the page on lung and heart disease.  Your rat should be put on lasix for a few days for the excessive fluids and albuterol. I would also suggest a few days on gentocin injections as the last resort.
Usually when a rat has a second respiratory infection they should be kept on antibiotics for life.

I would ask the vet for amoxil and baytril and see if this helps but be sure to use the albuterol for the gasping. The rat is showing signs of hypoxia.  Can you tell me if the bottom of the rats feet are blue or purple?