My baby rat is sick!

Question
Dear Sandra,
3 weeks ago we got a darling baby rat ( We named her "Tweet") from a local
pet store. I noticed 2 days later that she was occasionally sneezing. I knew it
was not a good sign so I kept an eye on her and she seemed to be getting
better. She loved to eat and play and I taught her to come when called and
how to sit on my shoulder. 3 days ago she became very lethargic and we
noticed she had a red crust around her nose. She had started sneezing again.
I took her to the vet right away. She was prescribed a pink liquid antibiotic,
.05 cc twice a day. On the bottle it says Rx:SMZ_TMP oral suspension. She
has been taking her medicine and I see no improvement. She has gotten a
little worse. Her symptoms are lethargy, weakness, tilted gait, discharge from
eyes and nose, and sneezing. The good news is she is eating and drinking.
The vet said to give her baby food, so we made our own in the blender. So far
I have given her mashed up carrots, peas, sweet potatoes, spinach, and a little
chicken. She also has organic seed and a few oat flakes. She gets plain spring
water but now I'm wondering if I should put electrolytes in it? I work in a
health food store so I have access to lots of good stuff( coconut water, etc).
I do not know if she will live or not. I don't know if its a virus or bacteria. I
was wondering if there is anything else I can do to make her feel more
comfortable or to help her at all. She lives with another rat who shows no
sign of ill health, but as soon as I noticed she was sick she has been
quarantined. I know she is lonely because when I put my hand in to feed her
she nudges me to be petted, even though she barely has the strength to do it.
I love her very much. I know she might not make it but I was hoping you
could tell me something the vet could not.
Thanks so much,
Emma

Answer
Hi Emma

First of all, you can indeed replace her electrolytes so have at it with what you know of to use. I suggest pedialyte for infants and children but if there is something comparable you have, thats fine.

As for taking the rat from her cagemate: if she was with the other rat even for a few minutes while she was sick, she already exposed the other rat. Chances that the other rat will get sick are not real high if she is healthy and otherwise has a strong immune system, but no matter what, she was exposed. Keeping them apart actually can make them both sick by the stress of being lonely. This alone can cause the immune system to weaken making them open to illness. I would put them together right away.

Next, your rat needs another antibiotic.  This needs to be treated more aggressive than using Trimethoprim sulfa, which is the SMZ TMP. This is NOT effective against mycoplasmosis which is more than likely the bacteria she has. Rats are all born with it but it is triggered by certain factors. You can read more about it here:

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

The rule of thumb should be that if the rat doesnt respond to medications within 3 days, its time for a new medication. They can get worse and this can cause damage to their lungs.
She needs baytril and doxycycline for 30 days and if she is not responding to that in three days, drop the doxy and add cefa drops for a secondary infection.
I am not sure if the vet you took her to see is an exotic vet or not, but he or she should have been aware the chances of this rat having a respiratory infection from myco is very high and the drug used is worthless for myco organisms. Myco has no cell wall and few drugs can destroy that type of bacteria since they are geared mainly to destroy the cell wall. Baytril and a small handful of other drugs destroy the cell itself which is why its the drug of choice for mycoplasmosis.

I would increase her protein a bit although it should never exceed 18 percent due to kidney damage as they age, you can give her the baby food and add some chicken breast or even a scrambled egg. Rats with respiratory problems dont like to chew. Its harder on them and takes up too much oxygen. They will lick and suck so feeding soft pureed food  like the baby food is what I generally recommend.

If you need more info on the proper vet for your rat, check here on my site.

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

This can be confusing because when we look for a vet to see our rats, we  see the word EXOTICS and tend to think that means the vet is an exotic vet because they say the treat them and they have a special interest in exotics. This is not true. Many of these vets have not even gone on for the extra few years it takes to become an exotic vet nor did they take the state boards and so they are not certified in exotics.  They are self taught, maybe reading a few books here and there or learning how to remove a tumor from a small mammal, but they often do not have the right supplies on hand to work on the rat when they come in and sometimes these rats need kept over night on oxygen and given IV fluids etc.... and that is when the self proclaimed exotic vet panics because they have no idea which end is up in that case.  They cause more harm than good to these exotics and waste time and money. This does NOT pertain to you and your vet, however, I am just giving a heads up to anyone else reading this and believe me, more people read this site than they do ask questions so I like to get things out there to educate people best I can.

Anyhow, hopefully this has helped you understand a bit more about what is going on.  I would call the vet to have her put on Baytril and doxy right away and if that vet declines or suggests to give it longer, I would find another vet ASAP!  Giving her longer is wasting time and could cost her life.

good luck and feel free to write back again if you need more support!

Sandra