Baby keeps sneezing after 2 weeks on Doxy. Help!

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Nancy

Member
Joined
Jan 11, 2014
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21
Location
Fresno, CA
Got 2 new babies 2 1/2 weeks ago. Took little one to Vet and got antibiotics right away because he was sneezing & squeaking. The 2nd rat was healthy, but started sneezing too. They've both been getting the antibiotics for 2 weeks and don't seem to be any better. Now what? Here's a video of Tiny and his sneezing.
http://youtu.be/FHULHr8yrUY
 
They need 2 antibiotics not just the one doxy and baytril should work and they will need to be on them for at least 4 weeks if you think you are dealing with a respiratory infection. You can also try a humidifer.
 
How old are they? At a young age they can have baytril. You could ask for zithro it is safe and a good abs choice for babies.
 
Sadly doxy on its own usually won't work for respiratory conditions but works great combined with another antibiotic. If the rat has not shown any sign of improvement on your current antibiotics in 5-7 days its time to switch them up. You could ask for baytril or even better as Hopefloats suggested Zithromax as its a pediatric friendly antibiotic and it actually works very fast :D
 
Baytril is safe at all age. The issues with cartilage was in young puppies, it's not documented in rats, besides once a rat is weaned they are older than we think. I've used Baytril on babies plenty of times.
 
Thanks for the replies! I ended up taking Tiny to ER yesterday when he started open mouth breathing. Hes still there and it has been VERY expensive but it sounds like he is doing better. I am choosing to pick him up this morning rather than leave him longer (recommended) due to is costing another $400-$500 to keep him until tonite. Hoping the poor little guy will do well on the new meds.

I have another baby that is sneezing and I've been giving him the same meds. thinking I'd better get him to vet for the antibiotic combo. He's not nearly as sick as Tiny.

This is definitely a learning process and I'm finding that the vet care is less than adequate. Why didn't my vet know to that Tiny should be on 2 different meds from the start? He certainly claimed to have loads of experience with rats and told me this infection is nearly impossible to treat.

Did some research and ordered Booster. Hoping that will help. 1st Vet had given me some Probiotic as well but said it just would help with the irritation that the meds cause if I didn't give meds with food. Been giving the anitbiotic with a bit of pancake so didn't use Probiotic. Anyone have experience with it? Neither of them wanted it. I didn't want to force it on them.
 
Vet put both babies on Baytril and Doxy. Had to have Tiny stay in oxygen overnight again but seems to be getting better. When I check on him in the morning, he seems to be breathing fine. The issue is when we come home in the evening and give them the meds, they get very active and playful. Tiny starts having trouble breathing due to the activity. He get scared when he can't breathe and runs around more. I triedd to hold him and he will stay quiet for a bit, but then panic and start climbing all over me. Poor guy.
Still waiting for the Booster to arrive. Hoping that will make a difference.
 
Nancy said:
Vet put both babies on Baytril and Doxy. Had to have Tiny stay in oxygen overnight again but seems to be getting better. When I check on him in the morning, he seems to be breathing fine. The issue is when we come home in the evening and give them the meds, they get very active and playful. Tiny starts having trouble breathing due to the activity. He get scared when he can't breathe and runs around more. I triedd to hold him and he will stay quiet for a bit, but then panic and start climbing all over me. Poor guy.
Still waiting for the Booster to arrive. Hoping that will make a difference.
Click to expand...

You can try not giving them out time until they are feeling better or confine him to a smaller space such as a couch.
 
I've found the BOOSTER has helped and when I've stopped it, some sneezing or gurgles can crop up again. I mix mine with a bit of strawberry syrup, as it has a very strong taste. I think the doxy/baytril combo works the best. When I've tried to go to just doxy after a few weeks of baytril/doxy, one of my boys started some intermittent gurgles again. I guess the two work synergistically. Hope your little ones feel better soon. A cool mist humidifier on intermittently can help too, especially if your house is dry from heating.
 
Thanks for the suggestion. I am finding it hard to get them to take the BOOSTER. Have tried mixing with agave, oatmeal, pancake, etc. So far it works only if I smear some on pancake. They both are better, but still making squeeky noises. No longer open mouth breathing, even when Tiny gets really active. He does have a little patch of skin in which he's missing some hair. Thinking rough play? Otherwise seems ok.
 
Try mixing two drops of the softened BOOSTER in with a bit of the Nestle Quick strawberry syrup (about six drops of syrup) and suck it all up into a small syringe, then gently squirt half into each little mouth, in small increments. I find the sweet syrup helps to counteract the almost soapy taste of the Booster oil. Give the Booster a few days, but I've found it to work very well. Glad you have the combo for antibiotics too.
 
dspch911 said:
Some probotics will render some antibiotics useless.
Click to expand...
I think it's the other way around. That's because you are taking bacteria to replace the bacteria being killed off. If you take the probiotic close to the time you take the antibiotic, then the antibiotic will kill off that bacteria too, rendering the probiotic useless. I believe a minimum two hour window is recommended after taking antibiotics before taking the probiotic to allow the serum level of drug to drop.
 
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