Baytril side effects

Question
I just got two female rats two weeks ago. They both sneezed a lot at first, but the smaller one was worse. After a week of the smaller one not getting better I took both of them to the vet. Luckily the vet had experience with rats and gave me Baytril even though she said they might not need as the flare-up was likely due to being stressed about moving. I tried giving both of them Baytril, but the smaller one refused to take it, but the bigger one did take it. After trying to give it to the smaller one (the one that was worse) several times and her refusing to take it, I discontinued it in both of them. The smaller one is now better, but the bigger one is not doing well. She is refusing to come out of the cage, not eating very much, and very lethargic. I don't know if she is having a reaction to the Baytril or if she needs to continue taking the Baytril. She hasn't taken the Baytril in 3 days now. If she is having a reaction to the Baytril, what should I do? The vet's office isn't open for 2 more days.

Answer
If she were having a reaction to the baytril it would have metabolized and been through her system by now, so its probably not that. I'd say she needs to be on the baytril again -- problem with starting and stopping dosages willy nilly is that the germies you're treating grow resistant to it every time they're given a partial dosage (enough to weaken the virus and let it "learn" but not enough to kill it). You need to start baytril and keep her on it for the full 10 (preferably 14) day cycle. At that time, you can discontinue.

Is your baytril sweetened? If it isn't, ask the vet to sweeten it. To make it easier to dose, some people mix the dose with a little bit of vanilla ice cream or yogurt and let the rat eat all of it. I prefer just insisting they take it and then giving them a treat afterward.