Is this serious / respiratory ?

[ChrisK]

Skittles has been on doxy and baytril now since Friday evening. The respiratory episode I noticed was on Thursday evening, and I hadn't noticed any recurrence since. But tonight (Sunday) I noticed she briefly had silent hiccups. I heard a bit of that liquid-moving sound. And a minor bit of grumping sound -- but this time it was different from Thursday night. This sound I've heard before from her (before surgery, etc.) and I'd always thought she was just expressing herself...

I have two sets of questions..

Are respiratory issues sporadic ? Or could it be the meds aren't working? Or maybe they are working because the symptoms were far less pronounced than on Thursday night?

Previously in this post, someone mentioned that rats are silent, so the grunting was a respiratory symptom. I am not totally clear on the rats making sounds thing because rats do make some sounds. As the grump grump I've heard tonight is a sound I've heard her make before, is it possible she's just talking or is it more likely she's just always had some respiratory issues?

Overall she seems fine. Healthy appetite, lots of energy, well groomed and interactive, etc.

Can I have your thoughts on this?...... thanks...

 

[jorats]

In all the years I've had rats, they have been silent except when sick. But... I have heard a two or three through out the years make chirping noises which to me didn't sound like being sick. But I'd say 95% of my rats are silent.
I wish I could hear that noise you are talking about so I could be more helpful.

There is no cure for myco. We can only treat it and it's secondary infections. It is the secondary infections that can become deadly. Sporadic... for sure. When I get babies, should one be sick at a very young age, I know I'll be dealing with URIs sporadically all his life, unless we are really lucky and nip it in the bud right away but so far, I've not been so lucky.

What I have noticed with doxy, it seems to work for 2 weeks. Then it seems to lose it's effectiveness. Have you thought about stopping the doxy and starting again in a couple of weeks?

If you are dealing with pulmonary abscesses which is extremely common in rats... then you are looking at palliative care. Maintenance meds for the rest of that rat`s life.