Freaking out

[Ratmomma2016]

Want to start off saying, I'm not new to rats & I've already been to my vet.

Here's my situation. I rescued 2 rats in May. They weren't hand tame. It took me a whole month to get them adjusted to their new home. I rented a basement at this time and had/have 4 other rats. I kept them separated until they were hand tame enough for me to do the usual health check up with them. Both were healthy.

So late June we did intros. Went great. Everyone was in my 2 combined critter nation cages.

Then in August my partner & I bought a house. In the 2 weeks we spent packing, the dust (keep in mind I did have 2 air purifiers & 1 humidifier running non stop to try to help) 1 of my rescues had a respitory flare up without any porphyrin. Treated her with Doxy per my vet.

We move into the new place her symtoms are gone. We get her and her sister spayed. Recovery was the smoothest post op I've ever had. Then the first day back in with her siblings, 1 of my rescues, Tonks starts making this snotty congested noise. So I start her Doxy treatment and call my vet. She advises to give Doxy time to work. Well we waited a week or so, dosing 2x a day with her symptoms coming and going. I have the 2 air purifiers in the new place, we keep the humidity up somewhere between 55% - 65%. The temp stays at 75. Her symptoms got worse & i had to nebulize her. That helped. Got Baytril & added that to her medicine dosage. She gets better. No symptoms, still continue meds. Find out Doxy causes congestion so I just give her Baytril & Meloxicam. Well I've done that for 2 days now and she had a respitory distress incident earlier tonight where she couldn't get much air through her nose due to the amount of snot and congestion. So I nebulized her again. My vet went on a vacation and I don't trust anyone else at that clinic. I was going in tomorrow to pick up a refill on her perscriptions so I'll be scheduling a visit with my vet for when she gets back.

But I don't know what this is! Her lungs are clear, its just all in her nose! And no matter what I do she isn't getting better! She has 1 good day, then a bad day, then 2 good days and then a random flare up!

If anyone has experienced something like this please let me know. Or if anyone has any advice, that would be great. I'm at a loss as what to do. I've never encountered this.

The last rat I had to PTS suffered from lung cancer among other things (PT as well) and even she didn't sound like this.

 

[lilspaz68]

Ok first doxy doesn't cause congestion, it actually has a bit of an anti-inflammatory effect.

How long was each course of antibiotics?

Is she making popping noises in her nose but her lungs are clear?

 

[Ratmomma2016]

I read over time Doxy can dry out the nasal passages and then this in itself can cause congestion.

Doxy has been approx 3 weeks. I was given a 10 day perscription for Baytril. We are on day 8.

And I'm not sure about popping. It sounds like a human when they have a stuffed nose and refuse to blow.

 

[Ratmomma2016]

And yes her lungs are clear

 

[lilspaz68]

Never heard that about doxy so if you find where you read it can you link it so I can confirm/deny the source?

This is the best site for all things rat/medical or biological

http://ratguide.com/meds/antimicrobial_agents/doxycycline.php
Doxy on its own is usually a pretty weak antibiotic only to use in mild cases, but add in baytril/Enrofloxacin you have a potent combo. You'll need to give the combo for 2-3 weeks,as 10 days of baytril won't cure an active infection.
Does she become symptom free on the combo? Or does the congestion always remain?
Sometimes the congestion is not infection, so the antibiotics have nothing to fight. In this case you could try steaming to see if that loosens things up and allow it to drain.

 

[Ratmomma2016]

The symptoms seem to alleviate some when she's on the combo, but they're still there intermittently.

Since Tonks is a rescue, from not so great a home, she freaks out when I out her in the travel cage to steam or nebulize her. She won't let me hold her to do either so she has to get out into a little travel carrier.

The steaming did loosen things up for her but she is my first ever rat that doesn't understand the concept of sneezing. Like she waits for it to build up and then will sneeze. Sometimes I have to gently rub her nose to get her to sneeze. So the steam trick can be scary with her because she doesn't necessarily sneeze out the freshly loosened whatever it is.

I did purchase Vet RX forever ago and always keep some on hand. Its like Vix but for rats. And I rub that on her nose to get her to sneeze out her clogged nose at least a couple times a day.

Any trick to keep her calm while doing the steam? I already steam it prior to bringing her in so the running water doesn't scare her. And we have a cool mist humidifier close to the cage for cool steam.