Very skinny rat!

Question
I have 2 rats.  They are 3 months old.  They live together and are both female.  One is a furry dumbo rat, the other is a albino hairless rat.  Over the past week the hairless rat has begun sneezing and has lost alot of weight.  It is crazy how fast she has gone downhill.  I just lost my job and really can't afford to take her to the vet right now.  Are there any home treatments available? Do this sound like a cold?  She really looks horrible.  Skin and bones today.  Meanwhile the other rat (dumbo) looks fine.  HELP!

Answer
She is probably dehydrated.  You will need to get her to take fluids, so you can use a dropper and let her suck anything from it from childrens pedialyte to boost or ensure which are human nutritional supplements, and even koolaid is fine, anything liquid at this point. Get some baby food and let her lick from a flat dish. She really needs a vet. I understand things are so tight with this economy going downhill, believe me I do, but there are no home remedies for rats when they have an infection. Rats do not catch the common cold virus, but they do harbor the mycoplasmosis bacteria, which most rodents do, and this can cause respiratory infections. There are just a handful of drugs that work for this.  Time is against her at this point and I usually dont suggest this but check out this website for info on buying antibiotics. The rat fan club gives out information here:

http://www.ratfanclub.org/resp.html

She would need the baytril and the doxycycline and the only thing is, by the time that is all purchased including shipping, a vet could have been seen.  A vet bill and meds will be no more than $50. I may be able to find a vet for you that works with people and lets them make payments.  Let me know and I will be happy to help that way.