Lung problems in rat

Question
Hello, one of my rats (a 1 year old male named Pinky, 530 grams)had problems breathing last month. The vet prescribed Baytril, Florentero and Dexamethason for 7 days. 3 weeks after the course of treatment was over, the same breathing problems  reappeared, this time the wheezing or congestion, or whatever it is, seems to come more from the nose and the lungs are much better than before. Today, however, there were red drops in the cage. Most probably Pinsky had sneezed and the vet said that it is blood, and not porphyrin. A test of Pinky's saliva revealed colonies of Enterococcus, Streptococcus agalactiae and Staphylococcus aureus. Another vet (mine wasn't at the clinic) prescribed Ciprofloxacin - 5mg twice a day. I read about Ciprofloxacin and I'm not convinced it will help much. Should I ask for another antimicrobial drug ar an additional one (such as Doxycycline, for example)?
Thank you

Answer
Well for starters, your rat was not treated properly.  Cipro is baytril, only for humans. HUmans cannot take baytril.

Your rat relapsed because he wasnt treated right in the first place. 7 days on antibiotics for a respiratory infection is just ridiculous.  They relapse fast and the second attack is when lung damage starts.  Please read up on my website, sandyscrittercity.com and refer to the page  on mycoplasmosis and also lung and heart disease.  You will see where the vet made his mistakes.
This is not surprising to me in the least. 80% of the vets that see rats should NOT see them. They say they SEE exotics, but this in no way means they are qualified to see rats. Not in the least.  Why? Because rats are the LEAST studied animal in Vet school, and even   when dealing with exotic medicine, the focus is more on avian and reptiles, rabbits and ferrets way before rodents.  They are last but not least.  Sadly, that is.  This is why I do what I do. I have become either loved or much hated by Vets across the country, but happily more vets support my advice and actually have written to me for advice. I respect a vet that admits they DO NOT KNOW rather than one that tries to do it and causes more harm than good.  Like in your rats case.
The strep that rat has is more or less normal flora and not really found in the respiratory tract.  Your vet doesnt even know the difference between blood and porphyrin...how did he determine the difference, do you know?

Go private, I am curious as to who your vet is. I would love to check out his credentials.

You need to put your rat BACK on baytril, and have him on 5 days of gentocin and 6 weeks on baytril, possibly life long doses after the 6 week treatment at twice a day, he should be put on it once a day after that for the rest of his life.