rat eye problem

Question
I have 2 rats, both about 6-7 months old. Since about Christmas, one of the rats has seemed to develop and eye infection, mainly irriations of the tissue surrounding the eye. First the vet started her on antibiotic eye drops. When it didn't clear up after a week, she was put on antibiotic ointment by the vet. Again there was no improvement with full compliance to the treatment. I again took her back and she was prescribed oral antibiotics for 2 weeks. It is now going on 3 weeks, and after initially improving approx 80%, the "infection" has again returned. Corneal abrasion was ruled out, and there have never been any respiratory symptoms. My other rat has shown no symptoms. The vet told me that if the antibiotics didn't work it might be an autoimmune disorder, and would require a referral to a specialist. I am looking for suggestions to avoid spending hundreds of dollars on this rat, as much as I love her. Any ideas on further treatment? Your advice is appreciated. Thanks

Answer
Please give me the names of the medications that were used.  Also, can  you send me a photo of her eye?  it would help alot.
I will assume the vet is not an avian/exotic vet.  Just to let you know, it wont cost you hundreds of dollars for that. An exotic vet is anywhere from $30 to $50 for an office fee and the right kind of medication that is needed for the eye, and thats about it. I do understand though that money is not as easy to come by, jobs are not as easy to get, houses are being foreclosed on left and right (I live in a city where we were the number one in the country for foreclosures...now we are number two....whoo hoo!)  so I do know how it is.  Just wanted you to know that an avian/exotic vet is not as pricey as people think they are. In fact, my vet I had in NC before I moved to FL was only $29 for an office fee with the first visit being $50. He was an all avian/exotic clinic only, no dogs and cats and had people from all over NC and surrounding states coming to him with their little critters.

Anyhow, I have alot of experience with eye infections and in fact, my boy, Santana, had to have his eye removed due to nasty infection several years ago. He passed away last June from heart disease, but he lived 18 months   with just one eye and did very well.  Ironically, I am working on adding a webpage to my website, sandyscrittercity.com that is focused on eye in infections as I am having more and more readers write in about them and just realized I did not have a page on my site about it.  

Please if you can, send me a photo (you can attach one photo here during our follow up) of her eye so it can help me see the severity of it better.