Antibiotics for Myco and swollen foot

Question
My rat has had myco for several months now. Our vet has given us three different antibiotics for him, but none seem to really keep things at bay. A friend of mine suggested Tylosin, and I've acquired a bottle of the soluble powder. Will this help and if so what dosage? He's become very skinny and I'm worried about his quality of life.

On top of this, the other rat has apparently injured his foot this weekend. It's incredibly swollen, no sores. He's not using it at all, barely putting weight on it. I saw a previous post regarding Children's motrin. Should I also give him some Baytril? Is this most likely injury or infection? He's a very fat rat, btw.

We plan to take him to the vet on Monday but want to help keep him a bit more comfortable until then.  

Answer
Hi

I am not real big on Tylosin. Its just not a real strong antibiotic. However, if you want to try it along with another drug, thats fine. You should  continue baytril if you have it but what is the dose your  using and how much does the rat  weigh?

As for the tylosin, the dose is 4.5mg per lb twice a day.

There are alot of other alternatives when dealing with myco and also the fact it is not even myco, but a secondary infection, plays a real active part in chronic respiratory infection.  Also the fact that there may be some damage that is irreversible from ongoing infection is possible.  Are you using anything else for him such as albuerol to open his airways and or steroids for inflammation of the lung tissue?

What meds have been used, how much and for how long, if you can remember? This would be helpful if I knew that as well.

Did you ever use a nebulizer on him? What symptoms of illness does he still display?


As for the other rat with the swollen foot...this could be acute bumblefoot. Many people think that bumblefoot is a chronic infection of the sole of the rats foot, but it can also come on very fast, overnight in some cases, and it involves the entire foot and even part of the leg, turning it blood red and swelling it two or even three times its normal size to the point it looks like it is about to burst.  This is a very serious infection and needs prompt attention.  if you do have baytril there, or any other antibiotic please let me know and also his weight as well so you can start him ASAP as this can travel fast and is painful.  You can use motrin for inflammation, dosing him 30 mg per pound.   Try to soak the foot in warm Epsom salt water (do not let him drink it!!!!) just dip him up and down in it for a bit and rinse it and pat it dry. Look for any cracks or sores and apply antibiotic ointment to them.

Do you have a good vet that is well versed in rat care? I wasnt sure about the past treatments your boy has had for myco which is why I asked what type of treatments he has had for it in the past.

Sometimes a general vet that sees exotics only knows the basics about myco and some even call it a "cold" which is really scary since rats are totally immune to the few hundred different types of viruses that are responsible for the cold virus and so therefore they do not get colds or coughs of even the flu.
Let me know what else I can do to help!