Took toto to the vets :(

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Clairebee1

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 19, 2008
Messages
72
Location
Northern Ireland, Belfast
Well with toto's problems i took him to the vet last night he was really good with them i wanted a different vet well... the vet says his breathing is bad and its coming from his lungs not his chest (Hes had rats for 10 years) and that only giving him chest xrays would determin this.. toto would need to be giving anesthetic for him to stay still and the vet says theres about 60 chance it would kill him and asked me what i would want to do.. i said is he suffereing and the vet said no because hes eating playing and alert so i said no i don;t want the xray. So the vet gave him an injection of stuff to clear his lungs and an antibiotic injection aswell.
The vet said because hes so far gone he might clear up or he might go downhill so when he does go down hill i will be making the decision to get him PTS .
For the xray its VERY expensive and the vet said even with the xray theres no treatment for his lungs .

Am i being a bad rat owner? should i be doing more ?

I cannot sleep at nights knowing he might need to be PTS in a few months/Weeks
 
Xrays in my opinion are a waste of money on rats unless you are looking for a heart condition.
But... with the right oral meds, this boy could do a complete turnaround. We've had rats with such poor prognosis yet rallied and became healthy again with oral Baytril for 6 weeks and Zithromax for 4 weeks.
 
Rats can do an amazing turn around with the proper meds. I've had huge success with Baytril and Zithro for my girl with pneumonia. I thought Cookie was a goner but she lived to 33 months. Good luck with your sweetie.
 
But thats the problem i asked him about baytril and he said in northern ireland they don;t use it on rats or rodents because the doseage over here is to high.
I told him about what i looked up and he said no vets in northern ireland would prescribe it to me unless i was a veternian.

Its weird the way he said about it but he sounded like he knew what he was talking about.
So i came home and rang about and asked and every vet told me the same thing in northern ireland they dont prescribe it for rats.
So what am i suposed to do?
 
No the vet gave him an antibiotic shot and thats it.
He says its his lungs and that theres no other treatment over here for rats eg.. meds and stuff im going out of my mind now.
Is there no other med's i can get him that the vet doesnt need to prescribe me?
 
If you look on the RMCA drug sheet that you were given, there are several other medications that can be used for resp infections. They're not as good as Baytril, but it's atleast giving him a chance. You can also ask for a prescription for Zithromax in addition to any of the other medications, which is a pediatric medicine you pick up at the pharmacy. I really don't understand what they mean by "no treatment for his lungs." What's supposedly wrong with his lungs? From everything you've said, it's a fairly basic respiratory infection. That's an infection, not his lungs themselves. I also really don't understand the whole Baytril thing. Too high of a dosage? Do you mean concentration? If that is the case, why can't they just dilute it down? There are formulas on how to do this. Some members on here use 100mg pills designed for large dogs or liquid Baytril designed for horses, but there's a particular formula made up by vets to mix it with water so that it's not too strong for a rat. That formula is on the RMCA drug chart you were given. That applies for any of the medications listed on there.

There's no point in an x ray. They're not going to see anything that's going to make his condition any different. Do you know *what* exactly he's been injected with so far?
 
Clairebee1 said:
But thats the problem i asked him about baytril and he said in northern ireland they don;t use it on rats or rodents because the doseage over here is to high.
I told him about what i looked up and he said no vets in northern ireland would prescribe it to me unless i was a veternian.

Its weird the way he said about it but he sounded like he knew what he was talking about.
So i came home and rang about and asked and every vet told me the same thing in northern ireland they dont prescribe it for rats.
So what am i suposed to do?
Click to expand...

Your vet is an idiot. What in Heaven's name does he want to mean by saying that no vet will prescribe Baytril to you unless you are a vet? DUH! So that means that Baytril is available but the vets are only able to give it to other vets? If vets were only to prescribe Baytril to "other vets" then they would only be able to treat animals with it that are in their office. Baytril needs to be given daily for at least 10-14 days according to my exotic animal specialist. So Irish vets expect their pet owners to cart their animals in daily for their Baytril treatments? Fully unrealistic!

Don't let up on your vet Clairebee! Pester the fool every day until he gives you the Baytril for your rat. Does your vet have an email? If every member of "The Rat Shack" were to innundate him with emails he would probably change his tune. Your rat needs Baytril, PERIOD! If he is too lame to know that then he might want to consider another profession.

It doesn't take a genius to read up on modern day treatments. If you are too warm hearted and good natured to say something like that then print out this post and deliver it to him with my best wishes.

Nothing pisses me off more than an inept fool who unwittingly sends a little fur-face through hell because he isn't up to date on methods of treatment. :redhot:

Like I said Clairebee.... feel free to print this out for your vet. Greetings also from Roquefort who is on my shoulder and cleaning my face... :love6:
 
Clairebee1 said:
So if i go to my local pharmacy who i know really well and ask for that Zith stuff how much % or what should i ask for like what should i look for i will try my best with my boy i promise.
Click to expand...


You have to have a prescription from your vet for it. It's a respiratory medication, used for babies and small children. As far as I know, it just depends on what version of the stuff your pharmacy carries. The dosage, if your vet is willing to prescribe it and help you with it, is on the RMCA drug chart. He can work it out. If he can't give you a dosage, but will prescribe it for you, we can help you work out the proper dosage.
 
Is there any way that it can be shipped from someone here to Ireland?

Or does it creat a huge problem when it goes through customs?

I'm sure my vet would do it - Give me the drugs and I can mail them over...
 
Overseas customs is much more stringent than from the US to Canada. I believe it's illegal in some instances. Also, it could take weeks for it to get there.
 
I find this incredible! How about asking for doxycycline as an alternative, this is my second favourite antibiotic for rats. They use it on cats and dogs very often. If you know anyone who has acne you can get this anitbiotic from a doctor and use a fraction of the tablet (or capsule) to get the correct dosage. Doctors also prescribe this to people travelling to malaria prone countries as it can be used to prevent malaria. I've acutally taken this option to get doxy for my rats in the past.

You know I thought vets were supposed to be intelligent, but there seem to be so many really really crappy ones.
 

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