Question about how long to treat for suspicion of myco.

Question
QUESTION: Hello, when i first bought my rat from a pet shop, he was sneezing, i would say, once every hour. there was no reddish discharge or any other signs of breathing problems. But I've read in alot of articles that changing to a new environment, smelling new things will cause a rat to sneeze sometimes. so i wasn't to worried. i tried some of the tips that was suggested like changing the bedding from carefresh to yesterdays news, no change.
after about 2-3 weeks, i started getting worried. the sneezing still continued. so i made an appointment and took him to the vet. the vet there sees alot of ratties so i was happy she has experience with them.
she said it could be a mild cold and prescribed baytril and doxy. but she only told me to use it for 7-10 days.
I've read in alot of places that if it is myco it should be used for 30 days! but in any case, i used it for 9 days and the sneezing seemed to have stopped. once in a while there will be a little ahh choo but everyone sneezes once in a while. (btw my rattie HATED the meds! it was hard to give any tips on that?)
so anyways, that was about almost a yr ago. now recently he started sneezing alot and also shaking, like how a dog would shake when it gets wet. he would sneeze, shake and then start grooming himself. to me, i think its another cold coming. so i want to start him back on the same meds again but this time for longer? is it because i didn't give it for 30 days that this returned?

ANSWER: Hi

I have an entire page about myco that you should read. Its totally accurate and up to date about how to treat it. Treatment should be 30 days but now the newest studies suggest 6 weeks and if the rat relapses, he or she should be treated on a daily antibiotic for the remainder of their life to prevent relapse.  What happens when the rat continues to relapse is the lungs start to scar and this in turn causes chronic problems with the lung such as shortness of breath, wheezing, accelerate respirations etc...  Relapse with true mycoplasmosis can be immediately following the first attack or even a year later.  I say true mycoplasmosis because not every respiratory infection is caused my the mycoplasma organism. Spe

I do have some bad news though about your vet. Rats do not get colds, ever.  200 plus viruses that are responsible for the common cold are Non pathogenic to the rat. This is good news for the rat, bad news because the vet is not correct. She is also not up to date on treating mycoplasmosis, or your rat would have been put on the antibiotics for the proper length of time.
It seems that most vets that are general practice vets that see exotics know the basics  but nothing beyond which is why your little one was not properly treated and also diagnosed with a cold, which like I said, is not possible.

Please read up on my site about treating mycoplasmosis at this URL:

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

As for your vet, it may be impossible to get her to want to prescribe antibiotics as long as they should be given for myco or she would have done so by now. Its pretty hard to tell a non exotic vet something if they were not taught it in vet school but sometimes they are willing to read up or take the advice from another vet. If she seems closed minded about          treating myco, I would find another vet, an exotic vet. If you need help let me know and I will gladly give you some names of vets that are truly up to par on rat care.



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

QUESTION: Hi Sandra, thank you so much for your response. Yes, please let me know of any good exotics vets that you would recommend. i live in the NYC area.

i am reading your myco site right now. So you do think my rattie is showing the beginning case/signs of myco and i should be treating for 6 weeks? after the 6 weeks, in order to prevent it from happening again, i should put him on meds once a day for the rest of his life?

tonight will be the third day of medication. i have him on baytril and doxy. he doesn't seem to show a great deal of improvement. still sneezing lots. i should be changing the meds now? you've listed several other meds, i am confused to which one should be switched? stopping bay+doxy and changing it to zithro+cefa? i work in a vets clinic (but we do not see exotics) so these meds I'm familiar with and are easy to obtain.

Again, thank you very much for your help. :)
-Amy

Answer
Dr. Alexandra Wilson
The Center for Avian and Exotic Medicine    
568 Columbus Ave.
New York NY 10024
Phone:    212 501-8750
Website: www.avianandexoticvets.com

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Dr. Robert Monaco
Old Country Animal Clinic    
669 Old Country Road
 Plainview NY 11803
Phone:    516-938-7218
Website: WWW.OldCountryAnimalClinic.com
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You can use baytril but add cefa drops too and see how that goes. If things dont change, drop baytril and add zithromax but keep on the cefa drops.  You may need to play a bit to see what works best first. 3 days is the charm. If you dont see results in three days, switch.