Re: Antibiotics for Myco and swollen foot

Question
Stoli, the more sickly of my two boys, weighs 12 oz (down from 15 oz 6 weeks ago). Scurvy has the swollen foot and weighs in at 1 lb 7 oz.

Stoli has laborious breathing, he weezes/squeaks a lot, almost constant discharge from nose. Tho the vet says chest doesn't sound as bad and he's just vocalizing a lot. He doesn't seem to be eating too much solid grain mix food. And at times he won't groom himself, he'll become very rambunctious: as soon as I open the cage he's out and on my shoulder, or climbing the cage walls. Since I started the baytril again, he's eating a bit more, he's grooming, his coat looks a bit healthier.

The vet has given me an entire bottle of Baytril so that I can administer to both rats for 30 days. Stoli gets .15ml and Scurvy .25ml twice a day. Scurvy has been very sneezy for months, tho not anywhere as bad as Stoli. Over the weekend Scurvy's foot swelling went down and is about 95% better. My vet said since the swelling reduced rapidly, it was most likely a spider or other bug bite.

He also suggested feeding Stoli fatty foods such as mayo or butter to put some weight on him so that he can fight the myco a bit better. I'm not sure if he's actually a certified exotics specialist, but he seems pretty well versed for the most part. And very generous as he charges minimal amounts for office visits and treatments for rats.

Answer
Oh my goodness, please do NOT feed your rat mayo or butter....thats a great way to open the door to heart disease!!!!!!  There are much better avenues to take and much healthier too, than to feed your rat a blob of butter.  That made my skin crawl!  
For starters, right at the drug store or grocery store you can buy a dietary supplement called ENSURE, which is a flavored drink full of calories and also vitamins, not something that will clog the rats arteries!  Also, you can buy Nutri-Cal from a better pet store. This is a palatable paste rats love and it is also packed full of vitamins and is a high caloric supplement as well.

Remember, putting weight on the rat to help fight off myco is of course a good idea, but it must be done in a healthy manner using supplements that benefit the rats health and has added vitamins and minerals that rat needs to help build muscle and help maintain healthy organs etc....but feeding something with empty calories and fats will do nothing for their health in a good way, but simply will contribute to heart disease or even fatty liver disease.