Pet rat ear infection or spine problems?

Question
QUESTION: Hi, i hope you can spare some time to take a look and hopefuuly have some input. I have 2 ratties at the moment, one dumbo, Tilly and one hooded, Bella. both girls, both around 2 years old, Bella is older than Tilly and had had babies before i bought her. 3 weeks ago Bella's breathing got really noisy and snuffly, Tillys has always been noisy, sometimes you can hear her outside the room! but Bells suddenly became noisy and her fur was all stuck up. she looked tired all the time. so 2 days later we went to the vets. we were prescribed baytril. which i had been putting in their water. it didnt touch Tillys breathing but it did help Bella and she got better. i was still putting the baytril in the water up until last sunday, just in case it would help Tilly, but to no avail. the end of last week i came home from work and Bella seemed to be having problems with one of her hind legs. she wouldnt put any weight on it. but it didnt feel like it was broken. however the next day she seemed better and the following day it was back to normal. i guessed she had just hurt it bouncing around the cage. Then on wednesday eve (today is fri) i got home and she seemed to have all her fur stuck up and she had started to walk round in circles. she seems off balance which makes me think its possibly an ear infection. but this evening i had the rats out on the bathroom floor,she had been wondering around investigating, albeit a bit wobbly and circling every now n then, she went to sit in a corner, she sees to prefer to be in enclosed spaces now,i guess she feels unstable, and then Tilly ran over and sat on her as she does, but when i moved Tilly off, Bella was curled up, in an akward position. she wouldnt move herself. so i picked her up. she kept trying to get back into the curled position and not lifting her head up. the leg that was playing her up the week before seems to be weaker.  she just wants to stay curled up and will stay absolutely still, not even blinking when you stroke her head.
im worried as obviously she is ill and needs to see a vet, but they have only just come off the baytril, would more make any difference? and are there any other possibilities i am not thinking of?  could it have been a slight stroke? she always trys to curl in the same direction and her tail seems limp whilst she curls, she doesnt squeak in pain.
any ideas would be a great help! i hate seeing my ratties ill. including these 2 ive had 9 rats altogether, of which i had one with an ear infection but she just had a major head tilt, nothing like this. so any input will be greatly appreciated. sorry for it being so long winded.
thanks

ANSWER: First question, why in the world did the vet tell you to give the rats baytril in water? Oh my, that really floored me. That is one way to waste money and medication.

Baytril does not work that way. It is not water soluble in the least way. If the vet told you to do that, you need a new vet pronto.

I am surprised the other rat got better at all.

It sounds like Tilly may have a deeper infection that she started with, which doesnt shock me since she was not given the antibiotic properly.
When medication is put in water, the rat must drink the entire bottle of water to get the medication. How can the proper dose even be given if it is diluted in a bottle of water.  THis is also a good way to dehydrate an animal. Make the water taste bad and the animal stops drinking.

What Tilly needs is baytril orally twice a day along with steroids, orally, twice a day for the next 30 days.  If she does not respond at first, do not give up. She will no doubt need a bit longer to recover since she has had an ongoing infection that was not properly treated.
I would find a new vet before anything, though, obviously.   You can check out this URL for a real exotic vet that cares for these types of animals so she can get the care she needs.

http://www.aemv.org/vetlist.cfm

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

QUESTION: Thanks for the fast response. :-)
had a look at the list of vets but none are anywhere near me. i didnt think mine was that great, i saw a male vet in there once that had to go n check online ,whilst i was there with my first ever ratty, to see if female rats had periods!! nightmare. there are diff vets i will look into though. see if anyone i know with rats can recommend a good one!
Tilly doesnt seem to be bothered, just really noisy. esp when she gets excited lol.
any ideas what might be happening with Bella? shes really not herself. she is still eating. just seems really lethargic and off balance and now with the odd curling up i dont really know what to make of it.
Thanks again for your time :-)


ANSWER: Yes I think your rat has a massive inner ear infection that has caused pressure on the 8th cranial nerve which controls equlibrium and this is why she is so off balance and sick.

Also, the other rat is still raspy because of congestion from an ongoing and improperly treated respiratory infection. BTW rats do NOT have periods. They go into heat every 5 days but do not shed any endometrial lining. The reason they dont bleed is because they are in heat every 5 days and this is not long enough to build up any lining of the uterus in order to bleed it out again. I am going to assume that your rat was bleeding vaginal and something obviously didnt turn out right. Usually its from a uterine infection but it could be a tumor too.

Anyhow, the URL I gave you above will take you to a link that has a menu of all the states in the US along with other countries too and the list contains names of exotic vets that treat rats and it wont be a waste of money when you go there.

Do you still have baytril left? Is it liquid? If so, how much do you have left and what does the bottle say on it?  I can help you dose them orally with any remainder baytril but do not use it in the water as this is wasting it and it wont do any good anyhow with killing the bacteria since it gets diluted.

Also if you do have any, how much do you think the girls weigh?

Again, here is the URL for the Association of exotic mammal Vets. Let me know if there are any in your area. You may have to drive a bit, I drive a good 40 minutes but its worth it to save the rats life.

http://www.aemv.org/vetlist.cfm


Please write and let me know if there is anyone you found on the vet list and again, about the baytril.

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

QUESTION: Thanks, i thought it might be an ear infection but wanted a 2nd opinion because it was so different to the last rat i had with one. but not every rat is going to be effected in the same way etc.
My ratty that had the vaginal bleeding ended up having lots of tumors, bless her. she died when they were trying to remove one under her arm.
i dont have any of the baytril left now, it was the liquid one, there was a little bit left but i just looked and its all crystalised in the bottom of the bottle.
i'll make an appoint with the vets and get some more. the vets do weigh them, so maybe i'll get them to write down how much they weigh so i have it, then double check with you if thats ok, how much im supposed to be giving them.
the nearest vet on the list is just over an hour n a half from me, but i'll give them a ring. not sure if the girls would be happy in their little travel box for that long but at the least they might be able to advise me on what to tell  my local vet to do lol.  id rather have someone that knows what theyre doing check my ratties than someone that knows less than me!
Thanks for all your help :-) i'll be in touch about the baytril amounts once i have been to the vets.

Answer
I am sorry about losing your little girl during tumor removal.
:(


ALso, the dose for baytril depends on the weight of the rat. My big boys get .22ccs twice a day mixed with strawberry syrup because it is so bitter.

Also, you can buy a cat carrier to put the girls in. Toss in a little hidey box so they can hide in it and peek out the door and the holes in the side of the carrier.  They are about $12 at the most.