my rats arent getting better

Question
a couple of weeks ago, I bought two rats from a local pet store. They were being sold as snake food. I'm keeping them in a large wire cage with plenty of toys and aspen bedding. I noticed that one of the rats was sneezing more than usual (I've had rats before) and sounded congested, so I took both of them to the vet. He crushed an antibiotic pill in syrum and I gave 1 mg to them each morning and night for a week. I am through with the antibiotic and it hasn't done anything. Now both of them are very congested, have gurgling wet coughs and weezing. I have another appointment with the vet tomorrow (the only one in town who will look at rats) but I'm afraid that he doesn't know what he's talking about and they are quickly getting worse. What do I do? I may not have mentioned that both rats seem to be only a couple of months old.

Answer
Hi Ashley


For starters, are they getting baytril?  This is what they need and they need it for a full 21 to 30 days or they will relapse over and over and with each relapse, they will get worse with permanent damage such as scarring or blistering in the lungs.

The problem with a vet that doesnt specialize in exotics is that they dont have what they need to properly care for a sick rat, hence making up that crushed pill concoction.  They dont have the proper meds on hand and chances are, they DO, but dont realize rats can take most all drugs. However, only certain drugs work on mycoplasmosis, which is no doubt what your rats HAD but it has now turned into a secondary infection from the myco not being treated properly so now they need not only something to fight myco (which should be an antibiotic that works on an organism with no cell wall and there are only a handful of these antibiotics)
The second antibiotic should be either amoxil or cefa drops along with baytril.  I am sure the vet has those drugs if he treats dogs and cats, since they take these drugs regularly.
What you need possibly to do is find another vet. I know you said he is the only one in town that sees vets but you may have to go out of town. Many people end up driving sometimes 50 miles to a vet. Sometimes they are closer than you think. If you want I can find one for you, all I need is your zip code and I will find a vet that sees rats and knows what to do for them.

Hopefully they get better after that....the only other option is to see if your vet will perhaps take outside advice and you can tell him what is needed to be done before these rats get too sick to survive.

good luck

Sandra