antibiotic treatment

Question
I have a female rat, 7 months old who started tilting her head, she is eating well and otherwise acting normal with a slight sniffing/wheezing sound in her nose. The vet ruled out parasites, gave a steroid injection and prescribed Baytril oral for 7 days. They didn't give a diagnosis but said it was either a tumor or an infection. (The vet treats exotics so has some knowledge of rats). But I keep seeing online posts recommending Baytril for 30 days. The cost for the oral medicine was $70 for 7 days. My question is: should I ask the vet to prescribe Baytril for 30 days then get it in tablet form for much cheaper online? Or just stick with the 7 day treatment. It is now day 3 and she seems better but is still tilting her head somewhat.

Answer
Hi Esther


Your vet sure charges alot for baytril!  Sheesh!

However, it sounds like an inner ear infection. The likelihood that it is a pituitary tumor is pretty low since she is only 7 months old.

The reason the rat is holding her head sideways and possibly walking off balance is because she has an inner ear infection.  The inflammation from excessive fluid building up causes pressure on the eighth cranial nerve which is what regulates balance.  As long as there is pressure on this nerve, the rat will continue to be off balance and have head tilt.

Head tilt takes longer to go away so even if the infection is gone, it will take longer for the head tilt to subside.  

In this case, baytril is not really needed for 30 days. This is more or less for respiratory infections.  I prefer a full 14 days on meds though, but the more important drug is the steroid. This will help with inflammation.

Has her tilt improved even a little?

As for it being a tumor, again, her age is on her side and also she does not have the major signs of a tumor on the base of her brain which is what can cause this.  Often when they have this, they stop using their front paws and cannot grasp objects or hold food. They become very weak, spin in circles, lose the use of their back legs....all kinds of bad things.  It is more common in unspayed females between 14 months and 2 years of age and is usually due to high levels of estrogen after menopause.

Just to let you know, your vet probably paid about $40 for the entire bottle of baytril and turned around and charged you $70 for a weeks worth.   Talk about jacking prices.  No wonder people cant afford vet care half the time!   :(