Zithromax

Question
Hi Sandra,
First I have to thank you for your amazing website crittercity.com. It has been a real education for us a new rat owners. This all started when my son enrolled in an animal behavior class that required him to purchase two rats for training. I have to say I was a little squeamish to begin with, but then I discovered rat love :) Her name was Louise and unfortunately we learned all to quickly about Mycoplasm. The first VET (who treats rats regularly) prescribed Baytril. After a few days of administering this, we could see Louise was only getting worse. So we located another VET who "specialized" in rats. At this point she required ER care, much $$$, and even after all that, the next day we had to have her put to sleep. It was heart breaking. On Friday we purchased  Baby Lucy from a large box pet store. The next day the sneezing began. I visited your site for help and learned mistakes had been made with Louise: the difference between the Baytil and the Zithromax. To my surprise, when we contacted the the rat specialist Vet, they said they don't keep the drug. So I asked my family Vet of over 30 years to assist. I trust him, and he readily admits that he's not a rat expert, but he knew right away not to give her Baytril because of her age:) He is one of the finest people I know and a sucker like me when it comes to animals. At my request he ordered the Zithromax. My question...what dosage do you recommend for Baby Lucy? Thank you again! Dee

Answer
I am glad you have learned from my website. This is all I have ever wanted to do, was to educate rat owners like you!

As for the zithromax,

4 to 8mg/lb BID-SID, PO

.1 to .2cc/lb BID for the first 14 days, then .1 to .2cc/lb SID for another 14 days