Resp. problems or URI

Question
Hi I just got a new rat, she is a beautiful blue (her name is Bella) :>) but once I got her home, I noticed her sneezing alot. I took her to my regular vet (we dont really have any exotic vets around here) and he gave her Panmycin Aquadrops 3X a day. The problem is yesterday I noticed her kinda sniffing/weezing sorta. My sister in law works at the Petsmart that I bought her from and she insists that I take her back to them I am more then willing to pay for her vet care. Is it possible that 1. she could still have the URI or another resp. problem ?( I tease & say she is allergic to my cats) :>) 2. Do rats develope allergies, possibly to bedding (I use carefresh) 3.My sister in law said that the birds in her store are being treated for mites & my rat could have them? To look at her she looks 100% healthy no eye or nose problem and no scratching!  please help!! Thanks

Answer
Hi Tammy

For starters, the panmycin drops are totally worthless. Your rat should have been given baytril. All rats are born with an organism called mycoplasmosis and this organism has no cell wall. Most antibiotics can only fight infection by fighting the cell wall but when dealing with an organism with no cell wall the antibiotic is worthless and the rat will not improve or get worse.
I am glad you don't want to return her to the petstore. I feel the second we bring any animal into our home it is our job to take care of it, for better of for worse. Of course thats my opinion and I have had alot of people frown on me because I even suggest to keep a rat that may bite and work with the rat (I have trained mean wild rats not to bite and she became my best friend till she died a few months ago after living close to 4 years) Its called "being a responsible pet owner"  
I cant say for sure that your rat has myco though because I will tell you that it is totally normal for a rat to sneeze for the first few weeks after entering their new environment. They sniff so much just to learn about their surroundings they are inhaling dust particles and heaven only knows what else so they sneeze...and sneeze....and may even have a tad of red porphyrin discharge around their nose. However, if she has tons of it around both her eyes and nose, you can hear congestion in her chest, she isn't eating or drinking and seems lethargic, she needs to be seen by a vet that will give her the proper medication other than old fashioned and myco resistant pamycin aquadrops. Another thing to keep in mind is to not add medication to the rats water, ever. If the rat hates the taste she will stop drinking the water or if other rats live there with her how will you know she is getting the meds and last but not least, she would have to drink the entire bottle of water to get the proper dose.
Adding meds to water is also primitive and common for a vet that is not up to par on treating rats.
You asked if rats can have allergies and yes they absolutely sure can, to dust, cigarettes (never smoke around them or burn candles or even spray anything in the room no matter how bad you may think it stinks of ratties) they have such delicate lungs and are prone to URIs like you said earlier all due to the fact they carry mycoplasmosis.
The carefresh you use is fine in my opinion but I have heard people say that it makes their rat sneeze but its not dusty so it could just be their rat.

Here is what I would do if I were you: find another vet. I know you said that there are no exotic vets in your area but there may be another vet that sees rats that knows more about them or perhaps your vet is willing to take outside advice by someone trained in exotic animals, with rats as her specialty? Some vets are more than happy to listen while others resent any offers of help. It ruffles their professional feathers I guess. Me, I am always looking to learn more because you never can know enough about rats since they are used to study every thing else under the sun except for what they are all about!!  Just recently did rats become recognized as part of the small mammal conference and vets now are learning a bit more about them to treat as pets but unfortunately they do not go full guns like exotic vets do, but again they are willing to take outside advice for the benefit of the rat and future rats they may see. I conference alot of vets and they are more than happy to do it. You can always print out a dosing chart of the meds to use etc...if you think that your vet wont mind.  Let me know and I can work on it and post it back for you....but I do think if she is wheezing, she needs good antibiotics. If it is all nasal and she acts just fine, give her about a week to settle in to her new forever home and if she still seems the same or gets worse, the vet for sure.
As for mites, even if the birds have them, they are usually species specific and wont go to the rats and even if they do, they can be treated easily (Never ever use bird spray on them)  by having the vet use a small dab of revolution between their shoulder blades and problem solved.

How old is your rat and does she live alone?
What is her diet?  Alot of times the cruddy pet store seed mixes that contain massive amounts of protein and fat are cause for allergies to develop in young rats and of course contribute to kidney disease from high protein as they get older. Legally I cannot name the names of the pet store mixes that should not be fed to your rat but its safe to say none of them are good to use.
You can check out my website at this URL about mycoplasmosis, proper diet and quarantine of new rats etc...for future use and one more time, KUDOS!!! to you for keeping your beautiful rat and not giving up on her. Your the top of my list for being a good rat owner!!

My website:
http://www.freewebs.com/crittercity/healthcare.htm

Please write back

Sandra Todd