Red discharge around one rats nose

Question
QUESTION: Hi! I examine my ratties every day because one of them(my first rat) has had health issues in the past(cold & cyst-treated w/ baytril). Most recently they all-all three of them-had a lice infestation from some bad carefresh bedding. I took the three boys to the vet for this and they were treated(5 treatments over 5 weeks) with invermectin(sp?). The vet told me to wash them with baby wash daily and to clean their cage with bleach and replace bedding every day. I have been doing this and we've completed the fifth treatment last week. Today I noticed that my youngest rat who is just 14 weeks old has some red discharge around his nose! Is this maybe a respiratory illness? Should I feed him my leftover Baytril from my eldest rat's previous treatment? Or is it maybe from washing them and their cage every day? I just don't want the lice to come back so I kept cleaning them every day. Please help, I don't want anyone getting sick again. Thank you.

ANSWER: Hi Aristine
I love your name, by the way. Very pretty, unique!


Anyhow...the ratties.....

I would chill out with the baths. The ivermetcin should be plenty to kill them. They are going to end up with dry skin and start to scratch themselves like crazy making you think they still have parasites!!

As for the cage, try to eliminate the litter as much as possible.  I would get a litter pan (small plastic cats pan) or if the cage is not that big you can even try a plastic retangle container or anything like that....like a 9X9 cake pan (plastic not metal) Remove ALL litter from the cage floor and put the litter in this new litter box. To cover the cage floor, you can lay down newspaper (soy free, which most papers are now days, and black and white, no colored ads etc...) and on top of that, lay down plastic needle point canvas found at walmart or any craft store.  THey have tiny holes in them so if they do urinate, it will drain into the holes onto the paper and keep it nice and dry and clean.  Meanwhile, they will want their litter so they will migrate over to the litter pan to use it. All of my rats are litter trained and this is how I do it.  You dont have to do it at all but the less litter the less mess and odor and the less chances of mites or lice.  Also, freeze the bedding for a day or two before use.  This kills any eggs or mites or lice that are in the litter. It will be a snap to wipe the cage bottom after that, changing out the paper every other day unless they never wet on it which would be a miracle, but you can get a spray bottle, add some vinegar and water and there ya go.  I use hibicleanse and water in my bottle.  Nothing that smells fancy etc....just good old fashioned soapy water.

As for the left over baytril...this is not a good idea for a few reasons. If he doesnt have an infection, this can just cause him to become tolerant to the drug.  Also, if he DOES have an infection and you do not have enough baytril and have to stop too soon, he can relapse and this is really bad because the second attack usually is really rough and can become chronic.  These rats are more than likely suffering from mycoplasmosis like most rats do, which starts out as a respiratory infection with simply the sniffles but can turn into full blown pneumonia.  If you need more info, check my site and the page I made all about myco.


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

It doesnt just cause respiratory infections, either. It is also found in the urinary tract, female reproductive organs (which is why females carry it) it can even cause ear infection.  Baytril is one of the few drugs that kill it because myco has no cell wall and most drugs kill the cell wall, where baytril doesnt work that way. Zithromax is the other drug and in fact it should be used on rats under 4 months old and baytril should be reserved for rats over 4 months due to problems with their developing skeletal system.
When does the baytril expire?  They should have been on it at least 21 days for a respiratory infection.  Is the vet you see a full fledged exotic vet?  Many are not but do see exotics on the side. I only ask because I always get concerned if the rat is treated properly for myco.



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

QUESTION: Thanks for the compliment on my name! Also thank you for all of the information. My vet is an exotics only vet. He sees rats, ferrets, exotic birds, snakes and I've even seen some monkeys there! My eldest boy was on the baytril for three weeks, I just had the extra left over and it's about half the bottle. I figured he gave me extra because he didn't know if my rat would take it off the spoon or if I'd have to inject it down his throat. But he did, he loves the taste of it so none was wasted. I'll take my baby back into the vet next week when my eldest has his follow up because of how young he is. I don't want to mess up his skeletal system. Thanks again for the advice espcecially about putting in the plastic floor with the holes. That sounds like a great idea. I got them litter pan trained but I think they only put poop in there b/c I find pee on all the upper levels which is kind of yucky since they drag their tails through it. And I'll definitely chill with the baths.

Answer
Awesome about the exotics only vet. So is my vet. He did see dogs and cats but wanted to devote his time and money to avian and exotics. He is a great vet and a great person.  Anyhow, sounds like they were on it the proper duration (the baytril) and the vet may still chose to use it on the baby rat. It is really up to the vet and if the benefits outweigh the risks, usually the vet will go ahead and use baytril, but zithromax is a good alternate too for young rats.

My boys seem to poop more in the pan but they do urinate in there too. I find puddles every once in a while but with the drainage holes in the plastic canvas this keeps it really clean.  The paper under it absorbs it. Without it the urine may drip down to the next level and make a mess too.

My rats LOVE their meds and grab the syringe and suck it right out too so there is rarely a struggle.

Keep me posted on the young rat and hopefully all will work out fine. Ih have faith that your vet is doing all the right things!