Respiratory woes...

Question
I've seen your site and your advice on yahoo answers. I'd like the opinion of someone knowledgeable and completely devoted to rats so I know you're the right person!
I have a 3 year old male named Groucho. His brother recently died from myco-related respiratory illness. Now Groucho is showing signs of respiratory distress. I've been treating him with baytril for about a month now, after trying other antibiotics. He seems stable but his breathing is still labored. I've been putting echinacea and golden seal in his water, rescue remedy on his treats, cleaning his cage more often, etc.
I don't know if you have any tips for that. I'm afraid he has mites but the vet wanted to wait until he was stable treat him. I feel like I should try some ivermectin to see if the mites may be affecting his immune system and have thought about giving him a dose (around the size of a grain of rice) of oral ivermectin for horses but I'm a little nervous about it.

I  know he has been a little depressed since his brother's death and I would like to rescue some rats from a local shelter to be his buddies but I want Groucho's health to be tip-top before I expose other little guys to him!

Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thank you so much!

Hannah

Answer
Hi Hannah

I do not think your question was directed toward me or who it was  directed to, but it was found floating in limbo without anyone answering it so I took the question so you did not sit there wondering and waiting for a response.
I am a rodent consultant and author of rat care brochures for area vets plus I spend alot of time updating and running my website, Critter City for Rat lovers and also my message board, The Rats Nest. I also have had rats as pets for more years than I can count, and currently have 6 boys:
(2 neutered and 4 intact) that are not only adorably fun but also very mischievous and they keep me on my toes during play time out.  I am also a volunteer on allexperts.com in the pet rat category: so there you have a bit about me before I begin.
Anyhow...back to the topic at hand:
Your little male, Groucho sounds like he could possibly have chronic lung disease from constant myco flare ups. I wont say it is age related though. Just because he is 3 years old doesn't mean he is wide open to fall victim to lung disease. I have had many rats live past 3 years old and never had any ailments at all and would simply pass away in their sleep...so I don't see age as a reason for illness. Its a number, not a disease itself.

However,  Since rats are born with mycoplasmosis and it usually doesn't start to cause trouble with the rat until the immune system becomes weak, chances are secondary infection sets in, which is probably what was responsible for the death of your other rat. Myco itself is pretty ruthless, being the culprit of TB in humans, which in turn leaves scarring and blistering of the lungs in both rats and humans (no worries, we cannot catch myco or myco related TB from our rats as it is species specific)  
Over time, after so many infections from mycoplasmosis, the immune system becomes weak and when the proper antibiotics are not used, relapse occurs and each attack with the myco bacteria is worse and leaves more and more damage to the lungs. When the lungs do not work properly, it takes its toll on the heart and thus in turn, heart problems set in. Unfortunately, with an elderly rat, heart and lung disease go hand in hand. There are ways to treat it with medication to keep your little old man stable though.
I suspect your little guy will need to remain on the baytril the rest of his life. A daily dose of baytril is used as a preventative measure in rats with chronic respiratory infection.  There are limited drugs to use for myco as well since the myco bacteria is one stubborn organism that does not have a cell wall. Most antibiotics are made to attack and destroy bacteria within the cell wall. When your dealing with an organism with no cell wall, those antibiotics wont do anything to kill it rendering them useless.  However, along with doxyclcline, using one of the following antibiotics:  baytril, zithromax and cipro are the very few that will work to destroy an organism like myco that lacks a cell wall.
You say he is in respiratory distress, what symptoms does he have? Is he gasping and wheezing? Open mouth breathing?
Do his side sink in when he is breathing and does he appear to be breathing fast and deep? Does he tire easy?
What about his appetite? Is he maintaining or losing weight?
What does his diet consist of and what is his current weight now?  I hate to ask all of these questions but its important I know the answers in order to guide you toward an accurate treatment plan and advise you on the proper medications needed to make the little guy more comfortable and also help get him stable as per his chronic ailments.

As for the mites, often when a rat has a compromised immune system, they fall victim to ectoparasites such as mites and lice.  The lice wont cause his immune system to weaken, its the other way around: The weak immune system allows the rat to fall victim to the mites. I am not fully understanding why your vet is withholding treatment on the mites since chronic mite infestation can lead to skin infection from scratching, which is something we don't want to occur, esp with his weak immune system already....the last thing you want is for the rat to end up with a nasty staph infection of the skin from scratching!! Also, over time, anemia can develop as anaplura feed on the blood of their host...so I would, in my opinion, treat the mites right away using ivermectin or selemectin (revolution) again, though, that is my own personal opinion and I don't want to go against what your vet suggests.
If your rat is wheezing or gasping, the vet can also put Groucho on liquid albuterol to open his airways and also liquid valium is being used successfully in rats to treat chronic lung disease by treating the rats anxiety. When the rat has a harder time breathing, they tend to become very anxious which in turn causes more problems with getting oxygen through and they panic. The low dose valium does not sedate the rat to the point they are sleepy and falling over from sedation. Instead, they are more calm and comfortable and tend to have a much easier time breathing.I see you have been using rescue remedy, so this is much along the same lines of thinking when it comes to easing the rats anxiety level. Also as I said previously, I would continue him on the baytril and add doxycyline for the next 14 days and after that, dose the baytril once a day to prevent relapse. Also, he needs further evaluation by a vet that is an exotics vet, not just one that dabbles in exotics as a special interest, but one that truly honestly knows about rats and their ailments. There are so many new treatments available for heart and lung problems with rats and traditional vets that are not board certified in exotics and who do not attend the most current exotic animal conferences etc.....are not going to be exercising these new treatments in our rats and that is very unfortunate because they are prolonging the life of the rat by many months and the quality of life is improved immensely.

Anyhow, if you want me to further advise you, please answer the questions I asked above concerning his diet, his symptoms and past treatments he has had as prescribed by the vet, his current weight etc....
Once I know a bit more about him I can suggest a treatment plan for him for you to use as a guide and perhaps discuss some new treatment options with your vet.
He is at a tender age right now and deserves to life out the rest of his life happy and comfortable and with the right treatment, I feel that can be achieved with the right medication etc..

Hope to hear from you soon


Regards

Sandy Todd