Baytril and inexperienced vets

Question
QUESTION: About 5 days ago I bought a pair of rats from a pet store and today I took
them to the vet for a checkup. They have been sneezing since I got them. I
am using Aspen as a bedding and about to switch to CareFresh as it might be
less dusty for them. At the vet's office I noted the sneezing of the rats (they
also have a tiny bit of porphyrin discharge on their bedding from where
they've been sneezing) and both the vet and I are well aware of the possibility
of mycoplasma and rat's susceptibility to respiratory infections. One is about
7 weeks old and the other is about 12-15 weeks old. The doc gave me a
solution of Baytril to be given orally for 10 days. Is this the right thing for
them?

Thanks

ANSWER:
I usually do not like baytril to be used in rats under 4 months old due to the fact that it may present cartilage abnormalities such as  erosions of cartilage in joints and other signs of arthropathy in immature animals of various species.


However, getting the vet to agree would be like pulling teeth if the vet is not up to par on rat care and he would probably argue that this only pertains to dogs, although the studies were done on rats, of course, who else but rats?   The other problem is that they will not be treated long enough. If this is indeed myco, they must and I cannot stress this enough that they are treated at least 21 to 30 days with some experts even treating them for 6 weeks and if they relapse a second time they are put on something to use prophylaxis to prevent relapse again since each time the rat has a true respiratory infection due to myco it can cause lung scarring.  A few months back someone with a really bad attitude wrote to me saying her rats had a myco related respiratory infection and were given baytril for just 10 days and her rat has not been sick since.  She just got angry and defensive when I suggested perhaps the rat did not have a true mycoplasma related infection and reminded her that there ARE other organisms our rats can get that cause respiratory infection but she went on and on saying I was a lousy rat care specialist esp since I called her rat a he when she was a she....err....or was she a he?  Oh well....lol...you get my drift I am sure.

Read more about myco here on my website along with some extra info on baytril and its use in immature animals    .

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

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: First, thank you very much for your time. I really appreciate your help.
Second, if it is another infection aside from myco, will the baytril kill it? Third,
in your opinion (not liable of course) should I discontinue the baytril
treatment or finish the 10 day supply and then... I don't know... do something
else? The vet is an exotics vet, however I don't know how much experience
he's had with rats. I think he mentioned something about keeping rats once
when he was in college. However, I live on an island and there are few vet
choices and this is the only exotics vet I could find. I guess I'm just worried
about my ratlings and want to make sure I'm doing the right thing for them.

ANSWER:
It depends if the organism will respond to baytril. Streps seem to respond better to penicillins like amoxil.  How are things going now?

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: the sneezing has gone down a bit but they still sneeze when they are stressed.

Answer
Sneezing when stressed is normal. Often, a rat that is upset or scared or even excited will sneeze because their histamine levels rise, which is what is responsible for sneezing and other signs of rhinitis during an allergy attack. Once the stimuli is removed, sneezing subsides.