Groucho part 2

Question
Thank you so much for your response! I appreciate your taking up my lost question. I wanted to send you an update on Groucho and answer some of your questions.
I went a head and treated him myself for the mites. After that he really perked up quite a bit, poor thing I think he was just so bothered by itches. He's been off the baytril for a few days now and seems to be doing alright although I think I'd like to keep him on it for a while longer just to be sure. His breathing is deep but there is no wheezing or gasping like with his brother (so painful). He has also maintained a healthy (chubby) weight, also unlike his brother and he is still pretty interested in food but would rather have the tastey things that I give him than that regular stuff in his food bowl. His regular food is a mix that I make with puffed rice and oats, rolled oats, whole grain pasta, fiber flakes, and the nutri-diet blocks. I give him fresh non-citrus fruits and baby food (rice, green beans, bananas, peaches...) and his favorite milk and honey treats! I don't think he could resist even if he wasn't hungry!
Anxiety has always been a big problem for him. I honestly think that the loss of his brother was just too stressful and it may have stirred up the myco. Even though I've had him since he was a tiny baby he is still very shy and doesn't like to be out of his cage or even out of his nesting box. I have a huge cage and he literally has never even been to the bottom level without my putting him there. I adore him but I just don't think his life is as full as it could be so I think a cage mate may be the best option. I think I will explore the vallium for potentially stressful events since he is so sensitive.
I feel pretty confident in my vet although I'm not sure if they are exotic animal certified. They seem to be the best option in my area and are no doubt compassionate toward my little ratties and have done the same regimen that you suggested.

So a couple questions:
I've been a rat owner for around 6 years, owned 7 rats all together and they have all been placed on myco reducing meds at some point. I have spent hundreds of dollars on Baytril and I wonder if I can purchase it or the doxycyclin myself online or otherwise? I have no problem dropping $100 on a larger amount since it will surely save me money in the long run. I've investigated it a bit myself but I wonder what you might have to say.

I also wonder what you might have to say about indroducing older rescues that are non-aggressive. I'm so scared that it will be stressful for Groucho but at the same time I think having another cage mate will enhance his time here. He is happiest when I sit by his cage and pet his ears or mimic grooming like his brother used to do :)

Thanks again for all your help.

Answer
Hi Hannah

Sounds like Groucho is not really suffering from respiratory distress or he would be gasping and wheezing. Its more of a chronic lung disease, or in our world, similar to emphysema. Diet sounds like the typical rat mix recipes that are floating around the internet which are fine. I feed mine the same give or take this or that, along with regal rat by Oxbow. I even love the puffed wheat by Quaker. LOL I eat it by the handfuls.  LOL !!  I can tell you are also educated about your rats (specifically letting me know you feed NON citrus fruits to your males) This helps me better now that I know you are aware of all that I am talking about...makes it easier to explain. It can be pretty difficult to do over the internet, thats for sure.
One reason I always ask people if the vets they bring their rat too is an exotic specialist is because I tend to see traditional vets hesitate when it comes to the latest treatments where an exotic specialist, who attends special small mammal and exotic conferences through out the year, are all up to date on them and do not hesitate to try new things.
There is an awesome drug called Lupron that is a hormone injection. This injection is being used among exotics such as ferrets and rats to help suppress the growth of mammary tumors in rats by blocking the production of estrogen, which is what fuels the mammary tumors (which is why our rats get them usually after menopause when estrogen levels rise dramatically) it also works wonders when rats have vaginal bleeding that is linked to polycystic ovary disease in rats and often many traditional vets more or less chalk vaginal bleeding up to tumors and they either do a spay or don't treat it at all when it is not either one of those things. I had one traditional vet say that lupron is a crock.
LOL  That was unfortunate because I have seen it save countless lives and because he didn't know about it he called it a crock!
If your happy with your vet and your vet is well versed on rat care and is good with surgical procedures and uses the safest anesthesia such as sevoflurane, which is really best for itty bitty animals such as rats or ferrets, and also is aware of up to date treatments, I would be happy with him too. Finding a good vet that is knowledgeable about rats is hard to do. I try to help people locate good vets on here all the time and sometimes these vets are hours upon hours away as far as drive time goes.

As for taking in older rescues: I love that idea and it is wonderful of you to give the older rats a wonderful forever home. So many people overlook the older rats and go for the babies. This often means the older rats are either left to live out their lives lonely in non kill shelters OR put down because nobody wants them. I recently rescued two adult intact males from the dog pound that had been there since April. I brought them home in June after a 3 week quarantine at the neighbors house but I kept them together. I didn't introduce them to my 4 existing colony of two intact and two neutered bucks mainly because the two rescues were a bit aggressive with each other PLUS I don't feel it is a good idea to let more than 4 males share a cage, unless they are all neutered of course.
I will tell you although you already fear this, and that is the fact your little old man may be so lonely it can really cause health problems. Stress from the loss of a cagemate can cause the immune system to weaken and when it is already compromised, this is not good for him at all. I lost a rat last year from what I call a broken heart, although what really occurred was after his brother died, my Griffin went downhill right off. Within a week he stopped eating and week two he started acting sluggish. A few days later my Griffin was dying with no outward signs of illness other than anorexia and lethargy which I chalked up to not eating. He died overnight at the Vets while in oxygen because his breathing was so labored. Necropsy showed a terrible lung infection that was so acute it took his life in 12 hours and was non responsive to most antibiotics. His immune system was shot. He just....stopped living and gave up on life because of his grief from Dodger, his brother. I was just devastated and also shocked. Although I had read about rats being sad and even mourn the loss of their cage mate, I never thought that a rat could stress to the point their immune system could crash and leave them wide open to the most deadly bacteria around. He was 18 months old and they were from a reputable breeder.
The sad part was, I was going to introduce him to my two neutered males but we were waiting a few more weeks for the hormone levels in the neutered boys to become stable. Unfortunately, Griffin could not hold on long enough.
This story is just one of many that  tell of the love and  bonding that is shared between  ratties.
As for buying antibiotics from the net? There are many sites that sell prescription drugs online but buyer beware!! Most of the time they are not what they seem.  There are so many counterfeit drugs out there and its just best to stay away. Many animals have been killed because of these counterfeit drugs.One of them was for a product for fleas called advantage and frontline. They were  counterfeits, even the box was a duplicate. Animals were dying from liver and kidney failure because of it. Many of these places over in other countries where its hard to track the counterfeit operations and when something goes wrong with the product, they simply move out and move on, and the company takes on another name and continues with its dangerous operation.
Here is a link that has a big story about how dangerous they are to use and the scams that occur .
http://www.cathelp-online.com/health/justsayno2.php     

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Regards

Sandy Todd