bleeding...again

Question
QUESTION: Hi I wrote to you a few weeks ago about my rat Isis. I will recap in case you forgot. About a month ago she started having bloody urine so I put her on Baytril for a week. When it didn't clear up after a week I had her spayed (but kept her on baytril so she was on it 2 weeks) and the dr found a lesion on her uterus and cysts on her ovaries so was pretty sure she was bleeding from that. She xrayed her abdomen and her bladder and everything looked fine. After the surgery the bleeding seemed to lessen for a few days, then got worse again and the dr said give her a few more weeks to see if it's hormones that need to calm down. After a few more weeks the bleeding was continuing to get worse, then better, then worse....one day I noticed she looked a little pale and there was a small blood clot on her bed so I thought it was time to bring her back in (this was about a month after she started bleeding). The dr tested her urine and said it was positively LOADED with bacteria, so they put her on baytril and tribrissen and told me to give her some baby yogurt that has iron in it (the yogurt is also good while she's on 2 antibiotics to keep the good bacteria level up!). She's been on these 2 antibiotics since last saturday, and I thought the bleeding was clearing up. I keep a white towel in the cage for a bed and I wasn't seeing any blood... just kinda very slightly tinted urine so I was really happy I thought she was finally going to get well. Well, I walked in tonight and there was a lot of blood on the towel, like it was at her worst. Through all this she has been acting perfectly normally, eating great, active....but when I saw this tonight I felt like someone punched me in the stomach. I can't imagine what else I can do. I'm going to try to bring her in tomorrow morning but in the mean time I'm having a panic attack that my little girl is still sick. What do you think is going on? I think this week is the longest she's gone with such clear urine since it started. It's so hard when you think it's working and she's going to get better and then it's almost worse than ever again! What should I do? Help!

ANSWER: Ooh! Thats a nasty problem to have on your baby!
It could be a urinary tract infection on top if bacteria build-up.
She should not be on Baytril as its only mostly used at its best for respiratory infections and mycoplasmosis pulmonis flare-ups.
I would talk to the vet again about this, have you checked her ovaries?
Rats don't get periods, just to rule out that.
A vet is your best solution, fruits and veatables (fresh) and yogurt, and even baby food, and soy milk for protein, vitamins and extra supplements are best until you can be sen by a vet.
I hope you get some help ASAP!
P.S.
Are there any "after hours" EV (emergency vets) in your area?
Keep your girl eating and more importantly...drinking and hold on!
Hope I helped!
-Molly

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

QUESTION: Hey thanks for writing. Well I called my usual vet (who is open 24 hours) and they said I could bring her in so I just got home now. They are putting her on fluids and changing her antibiotics. As far as her ovaries....she had been spayed and her ovaries did have cysts. I will call the vet around 11 for an update but they mentioned doing a urine culture to see if they can figure out which antiiotics will work best at this point. The vet I spoke with was pretty sure that it's a complex UTI and she'll need to be on antibiotics for 4-6 weeks. But I'm waiting to hear from another vet (they are going to have a talk about it apparently!) and see what they can come up with together. They'll probably x-ray her bladder again while she's there. I'm happy that they are going to be watching her all night and making sure she's ok. She was acting perfectly normally when I left her....grooming and climbing around my shoulders...when we got to the exam room she went on the floor and explored the whole room. I brought her bed to show them the extent of blood too. I will write back if I hear anything, and in the mean time if you think of anything else let me know!
Thank you for everything!
Lisa

Answer
Yes, just as I suspected, a UTI and *a problem* with her ovaries.
Thats all good news, so she is staying at the vet's over night?
Well thats good, if anything happens the night shift vet should and will be there to help your rattie.
Lets keep out fingers crossed!
I wish you all the best!
-Molly