What's after doxy and Baytril?

[tina]

Hi guys!!!
What's the VERY best antibiotic when the doxy and Baytril stop working for chronic upper respiratory infections?? All three of my guys have been sneezy, expressing red discharge and occasionally grungy since I got them back in oct, but their symptoms are getting worse. They've been on doxy for about 50 days and baytril for two weeks. They've been to the best exotic vets in chicago( many many times) but seems like everyone has run out of ideas. Their curent vet advised to stop taking the doxycycline and Baytril since its no longer working. But she didn't offer any other solutions. She said to let her think about it. I don't have time for her "think". My best friend is a surgeon and can get me anything they need. Any advice would be appreciated. What have you had success with?? Is there anything that can put this in to remission? Zithromax? Cepro?

Respiratory infections seriously Suck. So hard to believe there isn't a cure for this bastardly condition

 

[Luna&Ralph]

Seriously, they're the worst! Ratguide lists some antibiotics for moderate or difficult to treat mycoplasmosis. I don't know how open to suggestions your vet is, but printing it out and bringing it in or sending it to your vet might help to give them some good ideas about how to proceed. Here is the link: http://ratguide.com/health/bacteria/mycoplasma_mycoplasmosis.php
Zithromax in combination with doxy seems to be a good treatment, but I don't know how good it would be to keep using the doxy if it hasn't worked so far. When one of my boys was having some issues, my vet suggested using a nebulizer, and the ratguide also suggests some drugs to use for that. With my boy, she also checked his teeth and it turned out that his bottom teeth were so overgrown that they were growing up into his soft palate type of area and that could have been making his symptoms worse or causing his breathing trouble, so I would get the vet to check their teeth if they haven't already. In the meantime, I've read about putting some vaborub on the shower wall and then turning the shower on hot to cause a steam room to help breathing, and also giving them each a chocolate chip to help alleviate some of the symptoms.
In my worst case of myco, my boy was pretty old and ended up dying of something unrelated so I don't have the best firsthand experience but I hope that link helps give you some good ideas of what to try next. Good luck!

 

[tina]

Ok. After looking at the rat guide again, I think I'll try Zithromax.
I bought a nebulizer for my sweet boy who passed away last year. The motor was so loud, it totally freaked him out. Humidifiers make A ton of vapor and are quite. Nebulizers barely produce anything but sound like freigh trains. Weird. Lol. Ill save that thing as a very last line of defense

 

[Luna&Ralph]

That’s interesting! I’ve never used a nebulizer before but have heard some good things about them, but that definitely doesn’t sound good. I have a humidifier that I run every night because I like the cool air, and I’ve found that it seems to be helping one of my new boys who is sneezing a lot and it’s also helping my rabbit with snuffles, so humidifiers seem to be great for URI symptoms! I’ve also heard good things about Zithromax so fingers crossed that it does the trick!

 

[SqueakingJellybean]

Zithromax and a humidifier have helped our fuzzies more than Baytril when it comes to respiratory infections. I may have convinced our vet to start with Zithromax next time, since we have reason to believe now that if we’d started with it instead of ending with it, we might have been able to treat whatever took Chess and will probably take Cleo.

 

[tina]

Ok- thats encouraging. Thank you for that information. I feel like I have no other alternative but Zithromax at this point. I know their vets are kinda at their wits end and have run out of suggestions

Also- I've been noticing that they sneeze ALOT more inside their critter nation( during the day while they rest) . I know it's not their bedding-I spent a fortune on organic sheets for them and I wash them every night using only hot water. I wonder....Could the cheap plastic that their igloos and cage shelves be made with toxic chemicals?? Anyone else ever ponder this? They never have porphyrin during free range time. Hmmm.

 

[Luna&Ralph]

Maybe replace their hides with wood or cardboard and see what happens? Also I’ve always been comcerned about BPA in food and water bowls so my food bowls are ceramic and water bottles are glass, so that could be another thing to consider. I’m not sure if you’re already doing this but I would also give them some probiotics daily if they’ve been on antibiotics for so long just to balance out those digestive systems.

 

[jorats]

When we have a serious illness, we always do a combo of Baytril and Zithromax. This has saved many lives in my babies. But it needs to be given for 4 to 6 weeks.

 

[SQ]

I agree azithromycin (10mg/Ib) plus baytril, given orally, twice a day for at least 6 weeks is very effective.
There are other combos you can try if zithro + baytril is not effective such as adding doxy to the other two.
When the different antibiotics do not help enogh, there may be a heart problem and your vet can give you med to test dose for a heart problem because there are meds that can help with that as well.

However, clavamox or clavamox plus baytril are good to start with since clavamox is good for secondary infections which kill very fast.
Hope he is soon feeling better

 

[tina]

Luna&Ralph- I will look into a good quality wood house for them. I just got my guys "Basis Pet bowls". Human food grade stainless steel. Lead free. 100% made in US. Super safe. I know at least one thing in their cage isn't made in China. I give them a couple toddler yogurt "yogi" treats a day. I'm not sure if it's enough probiotic action though.

SQ, JoRats, sqeakingjellybean- Thank you so much for letting me know about your successes with Azithromycin!
How much flavoring do I use per capsule? I can't find the ratio anywhere. Is it something I can even premix?
Also, When your guys have Mycoplasma, are their symptoms consistent and nonstop?

 

[SqueakingJellybean]

Clavamox might have been the one I was thinking of, not Zithromax. Zithromax was still helpful, but clavamox was the probable game-changer.

It's been a long week and my brain is leaking out my ears now.

 

[SQ]

I give them a couple toddler yogurt "yogi" treats a day. I'm not sure if it's enough probiotic action though.

SQ, JoRats, sqeakingjellybean- Thank you so much for letting me know about your successes with Azithromycin!
How much flavoring do I use per capsule? I can't find the ratio anywhere. Is it something I can even premix?
Also, When your guys have Mycoplasma, are their symptoms consistent and nonstop?

If you want to five probiotics then I would suggest something like Bio-K|which is a liquid probiotic sold for humans - healthier and without the dairy.

I use human azithromycin from the human pharmacy (by prescription from my vet), and contains directions on how much liquid to add so I know the strength of the med (mg/ml).

You will need to know the mg in each capsule so when you add water you can calculate the strength in mg/ml. Then the amount you give will depend on the rattie's weight so that you are giving 10 mg of azithromycin/Ib of rat (ie 10 mg of zithro /454 g of rat).
Some sources suggest giving lower doses of azithromycin or giving it for a shorter period of time - however this is much less effective

Here is some info on myco http://ratguide.com/health/bacteria/mycoplasma_mycoplasmosis.php