Injecting Rats Subcutaneously with Baytril *URGENT*

My 2+ year-old rat is suffering from a pretty bad URI to the point where giving him oral medication is no longer possible due to the stress it causes him. He is breathing heavily all day long and hardly eating. I have a tentative vet appointment for tomorrow to have him PTS. In the meantime, I was wondering whether to try him on injectable Baytril as a last ditch effort. I know it tends to burn the skin if not done right so I don't take this lightly. I have all the supplies such as the injectable 2.27% Baytril, sterile saline, and 27 gauge .5cc needles (which I hope is the appropriate gauge for rats), but I have not done injections in years and I'm very nervous. I don't feel comfortable doing this but I also feel like I should at least make an effort for my beloved ratty in the hopes that he can improve. (If there was an exotics vet in my area that did home visits for this type of thing, I would gladly pay them!) Anyway, I'm wondering if anyone has any advice on whether I should try this and if so, how to go about it. I haven't found a lot of detailed instructions online regarding injecting rats in the scruff. Thank you in advance!

I'm so sorry your little one is suffering. I have never injected baytril so I wouldn't know how to properly do it. I do know injectable baytril needs to be diluted even with injection. I also can't see baytril doing any good if it's just for one day. Have you tried doing coupage? Tapping her lungs to displace mucus? That's what I do when my guys are in distress and it does seem to help them.

Thanks for the reply, Joanne. I've never heard of coupage before. How do I go about doing the tapping? I'm not really sure where the lungs are on a rat so can you tell me where to tap, how hard, and for how long, etc? I'm willing to try it!

On a rat the best place to tap, like you would to burp a baby is right behind their arms, do both sides.