Suspected Myco in young rat, please help!

So about a week and a half ago, I bought a baby rat from a local pet shop near me. I was a little wary of the place but I trusted them because they were breeding locally. I bring her home and she starts sneezing like crazy but I assumed that it was the new home sneezes. Now, she has porphyrin on her nose and she is extremely lethargic. I know she is eating and drinking but its not much. All she does is sleep and sneeze. Im suspecting Myco and maybe a secondary infection but I'm not sure. I wanna help her so bad and I wanted to get input on the situation here before I go to the vet (they're closed till Tuesday anyways). Im buying a scale tomorrow for weight and already have doxy (100mg) and amox (250mg) on hand.

Heres her size to give a reference on age. I know she is young but not sure exactly how young

If her breathing sounds weird it might be a respatory infection and you need antibiotics for that so I personally would go to the vet just to make sure

She may have a secondary infection …. she needs to see a good vet with the knowledge and experience to treat rats immediately!!
She sounds like she needs antibiotics now!
Clavamox is good for secondary infections and safe for babies http://ratguide.com/meds/antimicrobial_agents/clavamox_amoxicillinclavulanate.php
azithromycin (10 mg/Ib) is good for myco flareups and also safe for babies, it is more effective if used with baytril - baytril is the main drug given to treat
Azithromycin is sold by prescription (from vet) in human pharmacies myco http://ratguide.com/meds/antimicrobial_agents/enrofloxacin_baytril.php
The amount of medication she is given orally, twice a day, will depend on the strength of the med and on her weight

Try feeding her soft foods that are easy to eat as that will provide nutrition as well as keep her hydrated, dehydration kills
It is likely hard for her to eat and breath at the same time

Organic soy infant formula thickened with baby cereal, her rat blocks soaked in cool water to make mush, baby food, ensure, cooked sweet potato, cooked squash, watermelon for hydration etc are a few things you can try to get her to eat

I hope you get her to a vet soon and that she makes it

Post on here once you figure out her weight
personally I would start her on both meds asap

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

http://ratguide.com/meds/antimicrobial_agents/doxycycline.php
http://ratguide.com/meds/antimicrobial_agents/clavamox_amoxicillinclavulanate.php

So is it safe to use the doxy and amoxicillin till I can see the vet? Or should I just wait it out and only use the clavamox/aziththromycin?

What kind of cage do you have her in and use clavamox/amoxicillin

She was in this cage with my 2 other girls but as soon as I suspected illness I separated her into an open top bin cage and I’ve been cleaning it everyday so I dont think it’s that.

Try to get a small digital scale so you can weigh your rats for accurate weights as it's hard to guesstimate a weight from pics. I would start your wee one on the Clavamox as it's pediatric-friendly and kind of like super-charged amoxicillin. If you have Azithromycin though, I find that one the best and fastest of the antibiotics to give babies. Do you have zithro or do you need the dosing/mixing for the Clavamox? And what concentration is it? I know you have amoxi 250 mg and that would be my 3rd choice.

Here’s a video of what her breathing looks like


Here’s a video of what her sneezing sounds like

What lilspaz68 wrote,
plus put her back in with her friends unless there is an important reason not to ……. being separated will cause stress and stress can cause illness and make her more ill, while staying with her friends will help her

If she did have something contagious, they have already been exposed so no point in separating them

Post her weight if you want help calculating the dose

lilspaz68 said:

Try to get a small digital scale so you can weigh your rats for accurate weights as it's hard to guesstimate a weight from pics. I would start your wee one on the Clavamox as it's pediatric-friendly and kind of like super-charged amoxicillin. If you have Azithromycin though, I find that one the best and fastest of the antibiotics to give babies. Do you have zithro or do you need the dosing/mixing for the Clavamox? And what concentration is it? I know you have amoxi 250 mg and that would be my 3rd choice.

Click to expand...

Where can I get azithromycin/clavamox?

I thought you mentioned having it so unless it's in your own cupboard (both common antibiotics for humans) lets just work.with the amoxi. She looks about 6 weeks old, her sneezing sounds more nasally than in her lungs (good sign) so amoxicillin should help. We'll guess her weight at 80 grams.
Take your 250 mg amoxi capsule, open it and pour powder into a small bottle with a tight lid (pill bottles work well). Add 2 ml of hot tap water and let it dissolve the powder. Then add 3 ml sweet syrup. Shake well before using and her dose would be0.05 ml twice a day for 2-3 weeks.

Once you get a digital food scale (flat top) then we can adjust her dose once we have an accurate weight.

lilspaz68 said:

I thought you mentioned having it so unless it's in your own cupboard (both common antibiotics for humans) lets just work.with the amoxi. She looks about 6 weeks old, her sneezing sounds more nasally than in her lungs (good sign) so amoxicillin should help. We'll guess her weight at 80 grams.
Take your 250 mg amoxi capsule, open it and pour powder into a small bottle with a tight lid (pill bottles work well). Add 2 ml of hot tap water and let it dissolve the powder. Then add 3 ml sweet syrup. Shake well before using and her dose would be0.05 ml twice a day for 2-3 weeks.

Click to expand...

Oh my bad! I only have Doxycycline and Amoxicillin. I'm leaving my house now to get a scale for her exact weight and I'll post here as soon as I get it calculated. Thank you all so much for your help. I put her back in the cage with her buddies and they're all snuggling now. Should I be prepared to treat them as well? I haven't noticed any symptoms yet.

if they start to show any symptoms then treat them too

I personally think that looks like new home sneezes. Babies breathe faster, and it looks like she's cleaning herself pretty good. Also, her hair doesn't look puffed up, or rough. I have rats who sneeze a lot, or have sneezing fits like humans. With the weather changing so crazy fast lately, and all the things being blown in, especially with babies, and rats being brought in from God knows what living conditions (most of the time, a pet store makes it look like they are living cleaner than they actually are, especially when on display to be sold), and the stress of the move, it may take a little bit to get used to their environment. But the antibiotics surely can't hurt. She looks like she will be well cared for, and loved! Lucky rat!

It took my youngest rat, almost 6 weeks to get fully adjusted. I have an air purifier in their room.

Dena said:

It took my youngest rat, almost 6 weeks to get fully adjusted. I have an air purifier in their room.

Click to expand...

I have thought about doing this too and I was positive it was new home sneezes but the lethargy is what made me worried. She loves the hammock I have and she will lay in it all day and even on top of her own waste. I just know that rats are usually clean animals.