Poorly rat and Baytril

Question
QUESTION: Hello

  I sent you a question which you kindly replied a couple of months back about our male Dumbo rat called Rupert, who was showing signs of hind leg paralysis.  We took him to our vet (who is not exotic trained, as there are none anywhere near us at all) who thought it may be arthritis.  Unfortunatley things got worse for him and he began to have seizures at the weekend, we made the decision that he had suffered enough as his mobility was causing him to fall over and not be able to correct himself, a lot.  We lost him at the vets this morning, and are obviously very upset about it, he was only 18months old.
 His cagemate William was ok until yesterday afternoon when he started to show rapid breathing and recession, we stayed up with him during the night, and although he showed no porphyria ?sp his head was bowed over his hammock and he just looked so sad.  The vet thought it was worth treating William as he has been otherwise well, and he gave him an injection of Baytril.  I know that reading on your crittercity website and other similar ones that injected Baytril is bad news, now we dont know what to do, he hasnt given William any other antibiotics at all, and said that we should take him back tomorrow if he is no better, and we will have to decide what to do then.  We dont have a rat specialist vet in our county so what should we have done/do for him?  We know that it was time for our Rupert, however upsetting it is, but William is usually so lively and healthy.

Please help?

Kind regards

Clare and Dan

ANSWER: The one mistake that I see that was made was the fact the rat was not put on oral antibiotics. The shot of baytril is simply good for one dose. If the vet thinks this is some long acting treatment, he better surrender his license and go back to school.  Unless I missed something, a single injection of baytril is equal to one dose of baytril, period.   

As for the statement that there are no vets in the UK that see rats, this is not correct. I have a list of them if you want to see so you can perhaps find someone to take your rat to see for proper help.  DO NOT put this rat to sleep without at least getting the proper treatment first.

Let me know where in the UK your located and I will give you those names.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I telephoned the vets today and was advised that the injection was to cover him for the next 5-6 days, but that they would also issue a further few days of oral Baytril for him.

 I am surprised at the varied responses on this site, as understanding and sympathy for bereaved owners seems to vary from one day to the next.

 I also did not say that there werent any rat specialist vets in the UK I stated that there werent any in our COUNTY.  If you have a list of UK rat vets, are you able to inform us of it? We live in the South West of England.
 Thankyou for your time.

Answer
Hi there


My mistake.....thinking I need reading glasses more and more each day...I read COUNTY as COUNTRY!
I am also sorry if I did not express my sympathy to your loss.  What happens all to often when I am typing is either the computer freezes, I lose my work and when I go back to where I was, half of what I had typed is missing and I think I covered it all and obviously I left out some very important parts, namely expressing sympathy for the loss of your little one. Trust me, I have shed many tears when I read about someone losing their rats, esp when we had been corresponding back and forth and the rat passes despite my best efforts to find help for him.  There are others that I cannot even bring myself to finish reading and I end up rejecting them (stories that will make your heart just break such as reading about a rat with a tumor larger than the rat itself, and yet the owner refuses to seek help, or suggests its impossible to find proper financing for the treatment and the rat is left to suffer endlessly.  Those are often rejected by me as I know I cannot help in any way and I end up thinking about the poor rat for hours after reading the posts.  I have stopped subjecting myself to this kind of heartbreak after my husband noticed that it was actually taking a toll on me, depressing me and upsetting me for beating myself up if I find the situation hopeless and I remain helpless. I am only hoping NOT to grow cold while am here doing what I do.  You have reminded me to take the time and remember that getting to the next message is not as important as it is to concentrate on the message in front of me, and remembering that there is a person just like me, in love with their pet rat and wanting answers as how to help him or her the best way possible.....hurting from the loss of a rat and also fearing the worst with their surviving rat, worried he or she may have the same fate.  I apologize for seeming uncaring.  I am so much more than that and I am sorry for making you feel as if I didnt care.  I do. Sometimes too much....


That said....I do have to say that I think that the vet is have baked (LOL!!!) if they think this injection will last 5 to 6 days in the rats blood stream. Baytril is NOT long acting.  Even if it was, 5 to 6 days treatment is hardly long enough to treat rats with a respiratory infection.  
Here  is the URL to the website by Bayer that is about baytril and tells how it works and how it should be given. NO WAY does one injection last in the body for 5 days or even 2 days. This is putting your rat at risk. There is absolutely NO antibiotic protection in his blood stream. The vet best read the literature on baytril distribution again.  Actually, due to the fact rats metabolic rate is so fast, the baytril that was injected more than likely burned through the body faster than normal, which is why rats should be dosed high end dosing when using MOST medications in order for them to receive the proper amount of medication.

Also, if he is showing signs of respiratory distress, there are other medications that may also be dispensed to help combat whatever organism it is that is causing illness in your rat.

Vets?
Here is what I have..but I am totally ignorant when it comes to geography, so I dont really know if these vets are within your range or not....but I hope so, because your rat needs a new vet.  I know I know...I am so brass when it comes to that but I cant help it. If you and othr rat owners that read my material have been in my shoes before, you would feel the same way and possibly be as outspoken about it as I am, too.
Check out the URL below and see if there are any vets near you...if so, let me know who it is.
http://www.aemv.org/vetlist.cfm

Hope to hear from you soon!