Sooooo fed up now

Hi guys
As you probably all know, I'm struggling to shift myco flare up from my 6 month old boys. They've been on a baytril/doxy combo for a week no (plus bisolvon and corvental) and I'm still no seeing any improvement. Both of their chests are clear and are both very lively and alert, eating well and no staining around eyes or nose. It's the monkey noises that are awful. Jagger especially. When he wakes up he sounds terrible and so congested but usually once he's up and about and had a good few sneezes, the noises seem to stop. It's really getting me down now. It's like I'm just waiting for them to get worse and die. It's driving me insane. If anyone has any suggestions it would be greatly appreciated

First, can you post their weights and the concentration of your meds plus the dose they are getting? We want to be sure they're not being under dosed.

What kind of bedding are they on?

It also sounds nasal especially if they sneeze and it clears up. This is a good thing

Hi.
They're both just short of 400g (380g and 370g)
They are on 0.16mls of baytril twice daily (25mg/ml) and 5mg of ronaxan (doxy in tablet form) they're 20mg tablets and they get 1/8 of a tablet each twice daily. They also get a small pinch of bisolven twice daily. I've got them on fleece bedding. I just wonder if the corvental and bisolven could be loosening up the mucous maybe and that's why they're getting these episodes??

Unfortunately there's no cure for myco (a vet rat specialist will confirm that if it's not a cold or pneumonia) though there are many ways to help it settle down. My rattie vet put my baby boy (Rascal) on doxy for 10 days in a form of a paste administered by syringe. This helped to settle it but it doesn't cure it. He still sneezes so I have him free range in my bedroom to help his Myco. He sleeps in a basket and I wash his towel bedding every 2 days. Though his food and water is kept in his cage so he knows to toilet there. Though sometimes rats can't control their toilet habits when sleeping, the ammonia smell in your rat's bedfing/cage and sprays in your room makes the myco flare up. Dark chocolate (as a treat) and humidifiers will help myco settle, so will putting your rattie in the bathroom when having a steaming hot shower. (Keep in a cage or your little rattie will stress from panic)
I switched Rascal's mite prevention spray for kitten advocate to help his scratching as antibiotics can make them itch.

Other than that they are healthy and active just like a normal rat. I take my boy to the vet once a month for a check up with his myco. More times if I see a change in his behavior or if porphyrin has started as they are signs something isn't right.

Just remember if it's myco it doesn't harm your rat! You can help the flare ups but it won't 100% go away.

Thankyou. Lots of helpful advice. Jagger and Rizzo are both very lively young rats so hopefully I'll get this flare up under control a bit and I can stop getting so worked up about it! Ha ha
Thankyou again and lots of love to your little Rascal

After a full week, you should be seeing some improvement. Is this the first time they've been on this combo? Perhaps ask your vet to try something new, like azithromycin with baytril or doxy. From your description of the medications, it sounds like they had congestion in the upper respiratory tract and that the bisolven is loosening mucus that's being sneezed out. Sometimes these crackling/hooting sounds from the nasal passages is just that. Certainly baytril/doxy are a good combo for myco-related illness. Some rats stay noisy, even when on meds longer term, or the noise will come and go. All you can do is medicate them, keep their environment as clean as possible, and sometimes occasional use of an immune-boosting herb like echinecea and goldenseal for a week on, two to three weeks off, can also help. I know how frustrating it is to hear these kinds of noises, especially when you're trying hard to fight whatever infection is there.

Thanks so much for your help and advice. I really appreciate it :flowers4U:

Sorry, in answer to your question... Yes, it's the first time they've been on the combo but they have been on both antibiotics separately before

Rats with respire issues need to be medicated for at least 6 weeks. Otherwise they will not be better and the symptoms will return.
Baytril + doxy is frequently used, Baytril + azithromycin (10 mg/Ib) works very well. These meds are all given orally, twice a day for at least 6 weeks.

While it is true that there is no cure for myco, the flareups do need to be treated.
A tiny piece of dark chocolate can be used in emergencies to keep an airway open to give you time to get your rat to a vet. It is not a treatment for myco and I would caution against using it as a treat as chocolate is not good for animals (sugar, caffeine etc)
Humidifiers are good to use if the air is too dry as it helps rats breath better - I believe the optimum humidity for rats is 50% ..... but using a humidifier is not a treatment for myco.

Putting a rat in a steamy bathroom in a cage is a dangerous idea. When rats are having a difficult time breathing, taking them into a steamy bathroom may help them to breath.
However if your rat has fluid in it's lungs, going into a steamy bathroom will make it much harder for your rat to breath (the rats lungs have fluid accumulating in them) and your rat will panic because it can not breath.
If your rat is struggling to breath and you take it into a steamy bathroom, you will want to hold it and comfort it so that it does not become more stressed. You will also need to closely monitor your rat to see if the steam is helping or making things worse.

Taking your rat into a steamy bathroom is used in emergency situations to try to help a rat that is struggling to breath to be able to breath easier. The rat needs to be on medication from the vet as stream is a short term solution to help your rat breathe easier.

As mentioned by others, ammonia is not good to breath in and a clean environment is very important. Ammonia from a dirty cage, cig smoke etc can worsen myco flare ups.
Rats urine mark their territory (including their sleeping areas) and I have had many rats that like to "marinate".
Rats do not normally have difficulty controlling their toilet habits when sleeping - if that is happening there may be a health issue (see a vet) or a mobility issue (ie elderly rat with hed).

Myco commonly causes pneumonia, lung abscesses, emphysema, lung lesions, and can cause inflammation and bleeding in the uterus. All rats are assumed to have at least one strain of myco. ( a clean environment, good diet, low stress, and medical treatment at the first sign of illness are important.)

This is the first I have heard of mite prevention sprays being used with rats. Over the counter treatments and medications found in pet stores etc are frequently harmful to rats and may kill them. I would think that using a spray around rats would be unhealthy given their sensitive respiratory systems.
Kitten or cat Revolution (available from your vet) is the treatment for mites in rats.
There are many reasons for rats being itchy such as dry air, diet, allergies, etc. however, the first thing we try is treating with revolution for mites.

I hope this information helps

Thankyou so much for the information. I appreciate your help

I use advocate kitten at 0.08cc as it was advised by the vet (fyi I'm in Australia) revolution is an alternative but it doesn't have the same effects with building up a similar response to a mite prevention injection ( so bayer (company that makes advocate) and the vet tells me)