Respiratory Infection/Treatment?

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Layla J

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I adopted two baby rats yesterday (my 10th and 11th rats I’ve had, but the only rats I have right now) and they had previously been housed on pine bedding. One of the rats, Mac, has been sneezing a lot and he has some type of squeak when he breathes but it’s only when he’s excited and breathing fast. I got 250mg packets of Doxycycline hyclate powder for fish from petsmart and I saw dosage information on ratguide.com. I’m unable to see a vet anytime soon, is it okay to give them this, and can I get some help on how to measure the powder and give it to them?
 

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You would really need to knkw the rats weight. My rats weigh 1/2 lb each. My doctor gave them 25mg/5ml doxy suspension. The dosage for my boys was every 12 hrs for 2 weeks, 0.1ML each time. Zero POINT One milliletres --not--- one milliletre

If youre unsure how to mix it I would be cautious! There may be videos to instruct you somewhere online. I think it would be safe if you were very careful, but im not a vet so take my advice with a grain of salt!

Good luck with your babies!!!
 
depending on their age they may be too young … how old are they?
clavamox (secondary infections) and azithromycin (myco flareups)are both safe for babies
ratguide.com has info on both of these

and lilspaz68 can give you info re mixing doxy
the amount of meds rats gets depends on the strength of the med (mg/ml) and the weight of the rat
 
When you say squeaking, is it like an odd chirpy noise? Or does he sound like his nose is whistling? Sometimes when you bring a new rat home they get what a lot of people call "New home sneezes"
From what I understand it's totally normal for them to be sneezy and whistly for the first week or so. (My girls were sneezy even a bit longer, since as you said they had been previously housed on pine bedding)
Also does he have any porphyrin around his eyes, or nose? Also what bedding are you housing him on?
 
When you say squeaking, is it like an odd chirpy noise? Or does he sound like his nose is whistling? Sometimes when you bring a new rat home they get what a lot of people call "New home sneezes"
From what I understand it's totally normal for them to be sneezy and whistly for the first week or so. (My girls were sneezy even a bit longer, since as you said they had been previously housed on pine bedding)
Also does he have any porphyrin around his eyes, or nose? Also what bedding are you housing him on?
He doesn’t have any porphyrin around his eyes or nose and it’s more of a chirp but it’s in sync with his breathing. They’re on paper bedding, hopefully that’s not too dusty. I’m just so worried because I’ve adopted babies a couple years back who unfortunately didn’t make it because of a URI they already had.
 
depending on their age they may be too young … how old are they?
clavamox (secondary infections) and azithromycin (myco flareups)are both safe for babies
ratguide.com has info on both of these

and lilspaz68 can give you info re mixing doxy
the amount of meds rats gets depends on the strength of the med (mg/ml) and the weight of the rat
Thank you so much! I’m not exactly sure how old they are but they look a little over a month old, so I’ll look into both of those. Do you know if vetrx for small and furry animals is affective at all?
 
You would really need to knkw the rats weight. My rats weigh 1/2 lb each. My doctor gave them 25mg/5ml doxy suspension. The dosage for my boys was every 12 hrs for 2 weeks, 0.1ML each time. Zero POINT One milliletres --not--- one milliletre

If youre unsure how to mix it I would be cautious! There may be videos to instruct you somewhere online. I think it would be safe if you were very careful, but im not a vet so take my advice with a grain of salt!

Good luck with your babies!!!
Thank you, I really appreciate it!
 
He doesn’t have any porphyrin around his eyes or nose and it’s more of a chirp but it’s in sync with his breathing. They’re on paper bedding, hopefully that’s not too dusty. I’m just so worried because I’ve adopted babies a couple years back who unfortunately didn’t make it because of a URI they already had.

Okay, yeah. It's probably a URI then if it's in sync with breathing, (you wont really know for sure though unless you have him examined) In the meantime until you've gotten in touch with lilspaz, or a vet, you could try giving him a bit of dark chocolate? It might help ease the symptoms a little. Bringing him into the bathroom and just holding him outside the shower as the shower steams up is also a good idea to help clear him up a little.

As for the bedding I've heard of some people having no problems with paper bedding, though I know when I put my girls on it they started to sneeze something terrible, even with with the dust free. I ended up putting them on fleece asap, and the sneezing cleared up. So if you do find your boys sneezing an awful lot you could try putting them on fleece or another type of bedding for a little while and see if that helps out as well.
 
Thank you! I’ll try dark chocolate and maybe fleece
Of course! One of my little girls is battling a URI herself right now, so I totally understand how you feel. All the love to you and your little boy, and I hope you can get him on the road to recovery soon. : )
 
Can you post a video so we can hear the noise? We'd need a weight on your lad to mix up any antibiotics though. Also, if you have azithromycin, augmentin (clavamox) or amoxicillin these are better antibiotics for babies. If not, we'll sort out a doxy mixing and dosing for you.

Are you sure the doxy is 250 mg not 100 mg packets?
 
Can you post a video so we can hear the noise? We'd need a weight on your lad to mix up any antibiotics though. Also, if you have azithromycin, augmentin (clavamox) or amoxicillin these are better antibiotics for babies. If not, we'll sort out a doxy mixing and dosing for you.

Are you sure the doxy is 250 mg not 100 mg packets?
Can you post a video so we can hear the noise? We'd need a weight on your lad to mix up any antibiotics though. Also, if you have azithromycin, augmentin (clavamox) or amoxicillin these are better antibiotics for babies. If not, we'll sort out a doxy mixing and dosing for you.

Are you sure the doxy is 250 mg not 100 mg packets?
Last time I weighed him (Thursday) he was 84g. The doxy packets I have are definitely 250mg. His wheezing changed a lot, it’s much much quieter and it’s just air so it doesn’t sound like squeaks anymore, more like a slight stuffy nose. Also this website won’t let me upload a video so I’ll try to post it on youtube and send the link.
 
Can you post a video so we can hear the noise? We'd need a weight on your lad to mix up any antibiotics though. Also, if you have azithromycin, augmentin (clavamox) or amoxicillin these are better antibiotics for babies. If not, we'll sort out a doxy mixing and dosing for you.

Are you sure the doxy is 250 mg not 100 mg packets?
 
Ok you want to take one 250 mg doxy packet, mix with 3 ml of water til dissolved then add 7 ml of sweet syrup. Shake well and his dose would be 0.03 ml twice a day.
 
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