Urgent. Sick rat won't take meds. Need advice.

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us2lach

New Member
Joined
Dec 25, 2021
Messages
2
Location
UK
Hi guys, as title suggests I have a rat who I can't convince to take her meds. She is a female, weighs around 300g and is a year and a half old, suffering from a URI and had previously been prescribed Baytril 2.5% oral at a dose of 0.15ml twice daily. This medication has proven ineffectual and so yesterday I spoke to the vet and she prescribed Synulox 50mg/ml at a dosage of 0.7ml twice daily which after her first day seemed to be working great, her persistent congestion had subsided and she was breathing clear for longer and longer periods.

This stuff has a pretty overwhelming synthetic flavour, some kind of fruit flavour it smells like, and my girl initially seemed happy to drink it straight but today I woke up and she was refusing it outright. I tried mixing it with numerous things, milk, oat milk, shredded wheat and oat milk, chocolate ice cream, gravy, meat. She is happy to eat any of these things as they are but the moment she detects even the slightest hint of this medication she refuses.

She is quite a particular rat, if you hand her solid food and it is larger than her hands she is likely to stash it unless she is hungry so even if i could hide the medicine in a large enough piece of food she wouldn't eat it right away.

I'm tearing my hair out over here, she has been ill for a little while now and it's christmas. My attempts to force feed her have just stressed her out and now she is back to consistently making noise as she breathes. She is suspicious of anything I try to feed her now so I'm struggling to give her the baytril and her pain medication which is Loxicom.

I'm wondering if anyone can help. There are a few issues rattling around in my mind regarding her treatment which would be great to clear up and also general advice in masking the taste of this stuff if possible.

Googling Synulox for rats I have seen some peope suggesting that the dose I am giving 0.7ml twice daily is way too much for a rat of my size and can cause gastric distress; it's the dose my vet recommended but they don't have much experience treating rats.

I had also read online that vets inexperienced with rats commonly under dose Baytril as well.

I'm also concerned given that Synulox can potentially result in gastric distress, that that combined with the NSAID loxicom might be upsetting her stomach.

Sorry for the long post but I thought the more info the better in case anyone has come against similar issues regarding the drugs I'm using and their dosages etc.
 
I have no information on the medicine she's taking but I do have a question, is she still grooming.? I had a very sick and stubborn rat like you but she still groomed so I ended up putting the medication on a spoon and putting it on her side 🤦‍♀️ it was messy and not pretty but rats typically hate being dirty so she cleaned it off and eventually was a healthy and rambunctious little girl again, I truly wish you the best
 
That's clever! She has been a bit under the weather today but I think (hope) I have traced it back (with the help of lilspaz68 a user on this forum) to her Synulox dosage being much too high, almost six times more than is recommended for a rat her weight and which can cause gastric issues. I'm hoping this explains her lethargy and general lack of appetite.

I managed to get her to take a small amount this morning in my struggles which was maybe more equivalent to the kind of dose she should be getting anyway and while she is lethargic, her wheezing has become less frequent and she is sleeping soundly with no heaving of the sides which suggests her breathing is easier and that we're making progress!
 
So your Synolux sounds so high indeed. With our 400 gram rats we give 0.2 mL 2x daily.. we have one very peculiar rat and we try a lot. From salmon paste and baby food, yoghurt works quite well normally. Some wet cat food also works depending on if she can have protein. I have tried mushed avocado and banana with strawberry. I usually try and see which she likes best and if nothing works we force feed. Meaning putting a bit of antibiotics in a syringe and putting it in her mouth and immediately giving her a treat afterwards like sunflower or pumpkin seeds. Usually this goes very well! Hopefully this helps!
 
Next time, and unfortunately there will be a next time, try mixing the meds with a bit of yogurt or pudding. Our ratbaby's vet suggested it when our Lucifer wouldn't take his meds. Works like a charm!
 
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