RESPIRATORY INFECTION LINGERING! I'm a newbie and need help!

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kernol89

kernol89

Active Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2013
Messages
31
Location
United Kingdom
Hi all,

I'm new to this forum business but I'm hoping this might find me some help for one of my beautiful boys...sorry if i haven't posted this is the right area...I don't really know what I'm doing!

One of my rats, Arthur, has a respiratory infection. He's just over a year old and has been noisy since the day I got him (a year ago)

He's previously been on a course of baytril which didn't seem to change his noisiness and is currently on another course now (8ml twice a day). He's been on this for two weeks now and I've seen no improvements.

In terms of his general health, he's always really happy and eats and drinks well. He has never been lethargic or 'unwell' in a physical sense. He's quite antisocial and I had to split him from the other boy he was with as they didn't get along (even after getting them neutered). He seems much happier now he's by himself and prefers to be left alone. I get him out and make him sit on my shoulder (to try and bond) and let him run around on my bed, he's still always happy but has little interest in me.

In the time that my other boy, Melvin, was living with him Melvin never had chest complaints although recently he started to get a little noisy so I went to the vets and got him and the girl he is with (Dot) some Baytril as well (she had an abscess at the time also).

They've been on the antibiotics for two weeks now and are both fine so the remainder of what they have left I've decided to keep giving to Arthur as he was only given two weeks worth as well.

I'm not sure what the next port of call is for Arthur, as I said he's been noisy the whole time I've owned him particularly when he gets excited but these are definitely quite loud respiratory noises and not any kind of squeaks.

Any advice would be much appreciated! The vets I go to are lovely but aren't rodent specialists so if I go to the vets again I want to go with as much info as possible to get the right treatment for poor Arthur.

Thanks you for taking the time to read this :)
 
Welcome to the rat shack!!!! :DDD

Baytril alone is almost useless when it comes to adult rats with respiratory infections, and you will need to go back to your vets for a combination of the baytril, plus doxycycline or zirtho. They should be on this duo of antibiotics for about 3 weeks to fully clear up the infection. :)

Hope I could help, you can find out more if you Google "rat care guide respiratory infection", I would link it if I wasn't on my phone. Also, if you give is the concentration of the medicines (it should be on the bottle), maybe someone can help with the dosage.
 
It's 2.5% oral liquid. I'm not quite sure how much Arthur weighs but he is quite a big rat, both the vet and my housemates sister (who used to run her own rodent rescue) have said that he's quite a big lad.
 
kernol89 said:
It's 2.5% oral liquid. I'm not quite sure how much Arthur weighs but he is quite a big rat, both the vet and my housemates sister (who used to run her own rodent rescue) have said that he's quite a big lad.
Click to expand...

and you were giving .8 ml twice a day?
 
Yes .8ml morning and night. However that's also the amount the vet gave to Melvin and dot and they are both considerably smaller... Also with the syringe/dropper thing I was given it leaves a small amount in the nib when I give it to them, possible .1 - .2mls short so I don't know whether I should be compensating for this?
 
Hmm. Is it possible for you to get/find a kitchen scale that measures in grams? You can find them at just about any home goods store for around 10-15$(not sure how many pounds that is, haha)

It will really come in handy when dosing or seeing if your ratties are losing/gaining weight abnormally, now and in the future.
 
dspch911 said:
I have a boy that is 18 months old and we have been treating him for a URI for quite some time now. This is his thread - we have been treating him since September. :thumbup: Welcome to the shack

viewtopic.php?f=20&t=35192&hilit=+gmc
Click to expand...

Thanks for thinking me to the thread! It's good to know that if need be he can stay on a course of meds. I was worried that I would run out of options!

Thanks Aida! I have a set of kitchen scales that I should be able to weigh him on. I'll do that before I go to the vets so I have an idea of how much they should give him. I did see a site that helps you work out the dosage based on weight but I couldn't quit understand it. I'll post his weight here tonight and hopefully someone can give me a rough idea
 
Just checked Arthur's weight. He's 441grams

The vet did weigh him when giving him the baytril, but from what I understand on reading up is that some vets aren't always sure how to dose rats and tend to underdose them to be on the safe side.

I've got another appointment with the vets tomorrow so will definitely ask them for some doxycycline as well and make sure they give me at least 3 weeks worth (but hopefully more should he need it!)

Before I go to the vets tomorrow can anyone tell if .8mls of baytril twice a day is the correct dose for Arthur based on his weight?

Thank you all again, it's such a relief to know this forum is here with so many helpful people on it!
 
kernol89 said:
Just checked Arthur's weight. He's 441grams

The vet did weigh him when giving him the baytril, but from what I understand on reading up is that some vets aren't always sure how to dose rats and tend to underdose them to be on the safe side.

I've got another appointment with the vets tomorrow so will definitely ask them for some doxycycline as well and make sure they give me at least 3 weeks worth (but hopefully more should he need it!)

Before I go to the vets tomorrow can anyone tell if .8mls of baytril twice a day is the correct dose for Arthur based on his weight?

Thank you all again, it's such a relief to know this forum is here with so many helpful people on it!
Click to expand...


They would need to know your concentration to determine your dose. My boys get .20 and .18 of they baytril they are taking now, but off hand (since I'm at work) I don't know the concentration. These are previous doses, but by NO MEANS AM I SAYING YOU SHOULD GO BY THESES our boys range from 336 grams (sebastion) to 892 grams (Kona)
The vet gave us Baytril injectable (which were giving orally) 22.7 mg/ml and Doxycycline (raspberry flavored) 5mg/ml
Doses:

Lovee Baytril 0.23 mls Doxy 0.53 mls
Jack Baytril 0.25 mls Doxy 0.56 mls
Sebastian Baytril 0.17 mls Doxy 0.38 mls
Finn Baytril 0.30 mls Doxy 0.67 mls
Peanut Baytril 0.34 mls Doxy 0.77 mls
Popper Baytril 0.30 mls Doxy 0.70 mls
Axe Baytril 0.28 mls Doxy 0.64 mls
Bumbles Baytril 0.33 mls Doxy 0.76 mls
GMC Baytril 0.34 mls Doxy 0.78 mls
Kona Baytril 0.40 mls Doxy 0.90 mls
Curley Baytril 0.39 mls Doxy 0.88 mls
Throttle Baytril 0.32 mls Doxy 0.73 mls
Snickers Baytril 0.24 mls Doxy 0.56 mls
Grumpy Baytril 0.28 mls Doxy 0.63 mls
Oliver Baytril 0.26 mls Doxy 0.60 mls
 
For anyone who might be interested or find it helpful, we put Arthur on a six week course of doxy and baytril which completely stopped his noisiness but as soon as we stopped it he became noisy again. We're going to take him to the vets again and at his last appointment the vet said it may be chronic meaning he may just need to stay on meds and see how it goes. I did have to be quite forceful at one point as one of the vets we saw tried to say the noise was scarring on his lungs even though the noise goes away on the antibiotics. At least now we know the combo of doxy and baytril works
 
You definitely want to get him onto the doxy as well. You can order 100 mg doxycycline hyclate capsules from JEDD'S PIGEON SUPPLY in California, as well as 10% baytril from them, as well as amoxicillin (called Bird Biotic) for a very economical price. Just Google them and give them a call. Even overseas, it would be worth your phone call and the shipping charges. You'll get 100 doxy capsules for around thirty dollars (I guess that would be around 16 pounds UK), and the baytril (liquid - 100 mls in a bottle) is about the same. There are mixing instructions for it here in various posts. It's one way of making sure you have enough meds on hand when you need them.

Otherwise, yes, the zithromax is very good and can be used with doxy. If something is persistent, my vet has recommended chloramphenicol (also called Chlorapalm) which is a thick, white med but has strong penetrating properties. Would also adding an anti-inflammatory for a bit (such as Metacam or a steroid) help if he thinks there is any scarring in the lungs? Using a nebulizer with straight saline mist can often help calm the breathing and improve respiration. You can just direct the mist at them from inches away from the hose while putting them inside a small pet carrier that is mostly covered with a thick towel.
If you're in cool weather and have the heating on, make sure you have a clean furnace filter in regularly to minimize any dust floating around and use a cool air humidifier in the same room to help moisten the air so it isn't too hot and dry. I hope your little guy feels better soon.
 

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