Rat breathing, mucus, infection?

Question
Hi, my rat is about a year and a half old. A couple of months ago she was on Enrofloxacin for her breathing; she had a wheezy sound and was taken to the vet, had an x-ray to see if it was a secondary infection, it was not. So, she was on the antibiotics for about two weeks. Now, months later, she is sneezing A LOT, and when she sneezes it is about 10 times in a row! She sneezes out Porphyrin, too, she must be stressed out or something because it is all over her nose more than I think is normal. I also noticed today that she sounded a bit wheezy, but it was right after I gave her a bath, so maybe she was just stressed or something? Also, while looking at her today, I found that while there is a lot of porphyrin about her nose, i think there is mucus too, because it is yellow/orange. And it could be my imagination, but I think it smells bad too, like a fishy smell. I need an opinion if I should take her back to the vet or if i could just put her back on Enrofloxacin for a longer time, maybe a month. I would like to know if you think it would be better to try a different antibiotic, meaning go back to the vet, or if I really need to get her checked out again. I hope you can help in any way, I've never asked a question here before, so thanks. -Ashley

Answer
Yes Ashley, I believe she needs back on the enrofloxacin. However, the normal treatment for mycoplasmosis, which it sounds like what she has now and had a few months ago as well, should be treated for at least 30 days when they first show signs of it.  Usually the second time they have a flare up, it comes back a little worse than the first time, as you are seeing now, and this time if not treated properly, can cause secondary infection or lung scarring and blistering. The more they relapse, the more damage is done to lungs, unfortunately.  I have extensive training in diagnosing and treating mycoplasmosis. There are just a handful of drugs that can kill the myco bacterium since it lacks a cell wall and antibiotics are made to fight and destroy the cell wall.  The few drugs used for myco are baytril (enrofloxacin) doxycycline, zithromax and a few others that are bit more toxic for rats esp when it comes to their delicate kidneys and liver.

That said, I would put her back on the baytril as long as you saw results with its use   and if you do not see an improvement within three days, add a second antibiotic, usually a penicillin based medication like amoxil. I prefer amoxil myself for secondary infection OR prevention of a secondary infection.  She should remain on the baytril for at least a full 30 days but should she relapse again, she needs to be on it for the duration of her life.  Exotic vets that are well versed in myco will do this readily but expect a fuss from a regular DVM that lacks proper education when it comes to myco and how myco can shorten our rats lives considerably, if we let it.

I have alot of info about myco on my website if you would like to read more about it:

http://www.freewebs.com/crittercity/mycoplasmosispage.htm