Helping myco prevention (products & doses)

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My little boy went to the vet today due to myco flare up again, so for people who have rats with myco here are some product doses that may help because some vets aren't exactly experienced with rats and simply guess. My boy sees a rat specialist, she's put him on vibravet (doxy paste in a syringe), for 10 days. I administer one PIN HEAD size amount on his paw or placed on my finger for him to lick (much easier than a tablet or solution).

Since I can't use the mite prevention spray, advocate kitten spot on is used on him using only a small amount at 0.08cc from a syringe, this also helps with fleas, lice and worms.

She also gave him a small amount of an anti-inflammatory injection. I'm proud to say his myco has settled since seeing the vet (14hrs ago). No sneezing!
 
It all sounds good but sadly 10 days of antibiotics won't cure a URI. Antibiotics are given based carefully on weight of rat, concentration of antibiotics, and a recommended dosage. For foxy we use 5 mg/kg on average twice a day for a very minimum of 2 weeks. The injection, was it Metacam or dexamethasone?
 
Other then having a clean environment, and doing things to boast the immune system such as low stress, good diet, same sex rattie friends to live with, etc there is no prevention for myco flareups.

Myco flare ups and secondary respir infections are treated with antibiotics orally twice a day for at least 6 weeks.
As Lilspaz68 wrote, the amount of antibiotic given is based on the weight of the rat, the strength of the medication, and the recommended dose.

You might find this site interesting http://ratguide.com/

Glad that Rascal is feeling better, hope you are able to get his meds straightened out

You didn't put where you are in your profile. Are you in Europe?
Just wondering because the treatment in North America for mites is Revolution applied to the back of the neck.
I would think that using something to try to prevent mites would be hard on a rats system.

Also, if you have a single rat, you need to get him a same sex friend as rats need to live with at least one other rat.
Living alone can cause stress and other health issues.
See [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDy3bMRuobE&feature=related[/ame]
 
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I'm in Australia. As spot on is too harsh straight from the vial, I have to measure it through a syringe (minus the sharp needle). I know antibiotics don't work past 10 days for myco so the vet only instructs me to give it when it flares up badly, but before I do, I check his behavior and make sure it's not anything that can be mistaken for myco flare up.

I think the vet said he's almost half a kilo or half a gram lol, I was simply happy he's now putting on weight after losing so much but he's a big boy. He eats fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, raw nuts, rat mix and royal canin puppy biscuits (vet recommended) but he likes to steal my food and drinks (he knows no soda)

I don't know what anti-inflammitory was used or how much, but very little sneezing is happening today. But he's being a little pain and chewed into a fruit box of apple juice.

He lives by himself as he is free range, I play get the rat with him and do other rattie things to substitute another rat. He loves to attack my hand lol. I got him from work, the breeder brought him in for sale as he was sneezing my boss was going to reject him. The breeder said he was going to be snake food (humanely done) as he was a dud. I couldn't let that happen so I adopted him.

I know full well that rats are a social animal (I do animal behavior at uni and he comes to classes with me) but he's been on his own since being a kitten, well, old enough to sell.

I've since found out he has seizures but I don't mind, he's very active and they rarely happen. I love him to bits!
He's developed his own personality (loves doing the Sheldon thing with: that's my spot)
 
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Where did you get the idea that antibiotics don't work past 10 days for myco? What if you are dealing with a secondary infection which is also very common?

http://ratguide.com/health/bacteria/mycoplasma_mycoplasmosis.php

So basically with your 10 day treatments, you see the symptoms go away, then consider them cured? Sadly this is just tamping down the symptoms not actually curing the rat. Its also leading to the bacteria developing a resistance to the antibiotics, as well as possible future lung scarring.

Can you convince your vet to try 2-3 weeks instead and see if that helps the issue?
 
Antibiotics require several weeks to finally kick the bug. One of my rats had severe respiratory issues and after 3 months, he was completely cleared. Your vet needs to do more research which is available to all exotic vets online. 10 days will only make the bacteria stronger and come back with a vengeance. I usually do 4 to 6 weeks with Baytril or they stay on it for life.
 
I agree, antibiotics need to be used for at least 4 to 6 weeks, and if you find you have reoccuring symptoms that keep cropping up soon after stopping meds, then you either have to go back onto the original meds for a much longer period (some suggest at least two to three months), or switch meds if the other is not working like it had originally. And as rats age, when myco or secondary flare-ups can start to occur more often, as well as depending upon if the rat is prone to flare-ups, some put their rats on doxy, baytril, amoxi, or any combo of those three (or sometimes Zithromax) for a much longer term, or indefinately. In fact, it's not uncommon to hear of rats who were on doxy, or baytril, or both for a year or more through the second half of their lives because, as soon as the meds were stopped, the symptoms returned, hence, ongoing medication was the only thing that kept the respiratory issues at bay. You can also use some supplements like echinecea and goldenseal (one week on, two to three weeks off) to boost the immune system, as well as curcurmin, goji berries, and just a good diet and very clean environment. I used to use things like Yesterdays News, and other types of non-cedar/pine wood shavings, but even those could cause some sneezing. For the last number of years, I've only used clean newspaper sheets in my CN cage, and the entire cage is cleaned up quickly every morning; clean newspaper, unscented baby wipes wipe everything down, clean fleece and flannel blankets each morning. I've noticed that since going to this routine, I don't have bad issues with myco...occasional little spurts of sneezes or very occasional hoots that go away quickly (and which I've always medicated for for at least 4 to 6 weeks), but it has been other things (heart, PT, tumors) that have taken the rats, rather than anything myco-related since going to such a clean environment and regular medicating for long enough periods whenever anything does try to crop up. That's the only thing that I can suggest.
 
Antibiotics require several weeks to finally kick the bug. One of my rats had severe respiratory issues and after 3 months, he was completely cleared. Your vet needs to do more research which is available to all exotic vets online. 10 days will only make the bacteria stronger and come back with a vengeance. I usually do 4 to 6 weeks with Baytril or they stay on it for life.

In Australia we're only allowed certain drugs from vets, there are not many vets that deal with rats (most say we don't deal with rats, that's how I lost George (my first rattie) due to a medical emergency--only the emergency vets were open when I needed a vet). For Rats, only the Doxy paste is available from vets I've came across (I've tried 4 different ones, including across town).

I've been told from all the vets that specialise in rats here, Doxy can only be used for 10 days and if Rascal is still sneezing from myco, take him off it because the bacteria will only become resistant and put him back on it, if his sneezing worsens.

Exotic vets online is no help for me in Australia
 
Your vet needs to go online to the medical website for vets and ask questions and consult with vets more experienced in treating rats.
My vet is willing to consult with other vets.

Myco needs to be treated for at least 6 weeks as do secondary infections otherwise the rat is not better and the symptoms will just reapear.
The most frequently used antibiotics for rats are baytril, doxy, and azithromycin (from a human pharmacy by prescription by a vet). Often a combination of antibiotics is needed esp. baytril + azithromycin (10 mg/Ib orally twice a day for 6 weeks).

This info might help http://ratguide.com/meds/

Rats need to live with another same sex rat (if spayed or neutered they can live with opposite sex.
There are gradual. established steps for introing unfamiliar rats so that no one is hurt.
Rats can interact in ways that is impossible for people to do ..... it is essential to spend lots of time with him but no matter how much time you spend, you cannot replace another rat

btw, there is no humane way to kill a rat or other small animal so that it's dead body can be used for food.
 
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