Baytril question

Question
QUESTION: Hey Sandra.  A quick update on Rat-O, his incision has healed nicely and he had his staples removed today.  The pathology is still out on the tumor (they had to send it all the way to Sacramento!), but we should get the results in a couple of days.

I had a question regarding Baytril.  The previous vet I saw always gave my rats Baytril in the from of an injection.  I was unaware that this was harmful, and I have not heard of "baytril burn" until recently.  Is the Baytril given by injection exactly the same as the Baytril given orally, or is there some sort of difference?  If I had Baytril that was prescribed as an injection would it be safe to give to my rat orally?  And if it is safe to do so, do I give him the same amount as the injection would be?  I am just curious and this would be very good information to have!  Thank you Sandra!

-Natalie

ANSWER: Good deal on Rat-Os improvement!!

Also, glad you asked that about baytril.  I have info and a photo on my website of a rat with baytril burn, not sure if you read about it here or not.  Some vets are getting smart and diluting it so its not as caustic and that means less of a chance of damaging the tissues from the injection. However, its not the best idea to give rats injections anyhow since they lack body mass unless its given in the flank. Unless the rat is terribly ill or the medication comes in injection form only, I usually steer clear of injections.  The baytril used in the injection is also the same used orally. It is super nasty bitter gross tasting (how unprofessional of me, but thats the best way to describe it, my rat told me so!:)  usually the vet will make the inject able baytril into a tasty elixir using flavoring such as banana or strawberry.  I have purchased an entire bottle of baytril with the rubber stopper still on it and it was straight inject able liquid. I used to mix it with vanilla ice cream or a bit of strawberry pancake syrup etc... to get my rats to take it.   What do you have there for him as far as meds go?  

As far as the injectable dose being the same as oral, usually it is, but sometimes due to dilution it isnt, so its important to find out from the vet about dilution etc....first before doing anything oral.



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QUESTION: Hi Sandra.  Rat-O was on Meloxicam for seven days after his surgery.  Other than that I have no other medicine for them.  I am concerned because my boys (Fonzy and Waffles, not so much Rat-O) have been sneezing a lot the last couple of days...more than what I think is normal.  I just spent a few hundred dollars on my last vet visit (for Rat-O's surgery#, and I just started school and have not been working much, so I am broke.  I was hoping to avoid another costly vet visit and was wondering if I could just treat my rats myself with Baytril #buy it off petmeds.com maybe?) I already know the dose they get from previous vet visits.  Is this possible to do, or a horrible idea? Do I need to get out the old credit card and head to the vet?  I recently changed my rats food, could this cause sneezing?  All of my boys are active, eating, drinking and acting fine...but I know all to well how serious respiratory problems can be in rats.

Thank you!

-Natalie

ANSWER: Hmmmmmmm.....Petmeds.com doesnt require a script from the vet?  I mean, if it doesnt and you can get it cheaper than it would be for a vet visit, heck yeah I would go for it.  In fact, since one of the reasons our rats suffer from chronic lung disease due to mycoplasmosis pulmonis is because vets do not know how to dose the rats properly for myco.  Rule of thumb to properly treat respiratory disease from becoming chronic and causing scar tissue, blistering or collapsed lung is to keep them on it for at least 30 days the first outbreak and if there is a second outbreak, they should be put on it for life.  Having this available to the public is awesome.  I would go for it!

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QUESTION: Hi Sandra

I have bought medicine before off of pedmeds without a prescription.  I looked up Baytril...but they only have it in tablet form for cats and dogs and eardrop form for dogs.  I know the tablets won't work, and I am guessing the eardrops aren't any good either?  Or are the eardrops actually just regular Baytril (it says Baytril Otic)?  It's 15ml for $19.99.  It says that they do not carry the injectable form of baytril, which I am guessing is the only one that is okay to use?


-Natalie

Answer


Baytril otic is not to be used orally.   

You CAN get the tablets for the rat and simply crush them up into some chocolate ice cream (it wont hurt, just that bit of ice cream) or yogurt, which is always a good idea since it replaces any lost "good bacteria".

The baytril tablets probably come in these strengths: 5.7 mg, 22.7 mg, 68 mg, & 136 mg.  You would want to use the 5.7 mg strength and I would have to figure out the dose, unless you have that info already.