What are signs that a URI is improving on antibiotics?
Specifically how does the mucous that was once in the lungs and/or bronchial tubes leave the body? Is it absorbed internally or does it come out through the nose and mouth?
Could increased nasal noises be the result of an improvement due to medication? Or does that mean the medication is not working?
I'm currently going through this with one my very healthy rats. She started that 'noise', that low honking noise they make about a week ago. I took her to the ER last night and she has no temp, eating drinking normally, no piloerection, still active, but she's making those little soft chirpy duck noises.
They gave me AB's but told me to wait and see if she can clear this on her own and told me it was very mild. It could simply be the change of seasons or, as the vet suspects, environmental. IOW, something is causing her to be congested but it's not an infection.
I clean their bedding every day/every other day. I clean up all their poop spots the same way. They are never allowed to sit or sleep on ammonia. However, the vet told me that rats will get into areas we don't clean as often. I have ONE spot behind my dresser that I haven't cleaned in a long time. This may be aggravating them. They don't sit behind there but they do TRAVEL behind there. THe solution, is to pull that dresser out and give it a good hot water/bleach cleaning. This will be done of course because it is the ONE spot that I can't access frequently, but they can.
Are there any environmental things you can think of? Also, rats are sensitive to where they are, for example, near a window or getting any kind of draft etc. or a space heater or something.
Also, this could be mycoplasmosis where your rat gets flare ups, some are major, some are minor.
There is also, as shauna just stated, the right antibiotic for the right bacteria. It may take amoxicillin or another type of AB.
Is there mucous coming from the nose of your rat? Does your rat have a temperature? These are important clues.
What about activity level? Piloerection? Excess porphyrin that isn't cleaned up by the rat?
Now, I'm not in your situation but if they're still making noises but they are OK otherwise, I wouldn't keep my rat on AB's, simply because they aren't doing anything and aren't good long term uses on anyone, even a rat. There is a natural balance in bodies that gets totally out of whack with AB's.
I'd be more proactive in giving breathing treatments instead of AB's just to assist breathing without internal meds.
If this is an environmental issue, you have to figure out what that is.
In humans, the change of seasons can bring about all sorts of sniffles and I imagine it's the same in rats.
Here's a little anecdotal analogy, I have trace amounts of blood in my urine. I've had every test to rule out nasty things and I'm healthy and active. My Kidneys are functioning properly but I just have that tiny tiny trace amount of blood that is picked up on urinalysis. There's nothing to be done about it. I've gotten all the tests, I'm functioning properly, I just have a tiny tiny tiny trace of blood in my urine.
Rats can be sniffly without something serious going on. I know with rats you do need to be extra careful though b/c of their sensitive UR systems, but sometimes there's really nothing major wrong that requires AB's.