Mycoplasma in Rats

[Mialee]

Are there any rat owners who have experience with rats with mycoplasma flare-ups and can explain what it actually is?

In February I adopted a 1 year old female rat from the adoption section of a pet store. She was a lone rat and had been neglected by her previous owner - little was said about how she was kept, but for whatever reason she has been diagnosed with flare-ups of ‘mycoplasma’ due to this. (Side note: I also adopted 2 friends for her from a local rescue - she’s no longer a lone rat).

I’ve been to the vet 2 times since I’ve got her as her breathing was particularly bad and they have given her antibiotics (Zithromax), but they have said she will always probably make noises as she may have lung scarring.

I’m planning on getting 3 babies within the next week, but is it a good idea to introduce babies to my girls if they’re still taking antibiotics? I don’t want to cause any harm to the new babies.

I’m so confused about ‘myco’ - the vet says it’s contagious but I thought all rats had varying degrees of ‘myco’ in them?

*picture of my girl below*

 

[ViciousCurse]

Most of the rats in the pet population have myco, but I think lab rats don't have it (not that that ultimately helps anything).
Myco can flare in times of stress, i.e. moving, new rats, or other major changes in their lives.
I can't give much more information than that because none of my rats have ever had a myco flare (knock on wood).
Some rats suffer more from myco than others. Some rats are very symptomatic, while others aren't at all. I suppose that's the personality of the rat; if they're a more nervous rat than others.

URIs are extremely contagious and very dangerous to rats, however. Whereas a rat may be able to live with myco once it goes dormant, URIs are deadly to rats.

 

[Mialee]

Most of the rats in the pet population have myco, but I think lab rats don't have it (not that that ultimately helps anything).
Myco can flare in times of stress, i.e. moving, new rats, or other major changes in their lives.
I can't give much more information than that because none of my rats have ever had a myco flare (knock on wood).
Some rats suffer more from myco than others. Some rats are very symptomatic, while others aren't at all. I suppose that's the personality of the rat; if they're a more nervous rat than others.

URIs are extremely contagious and very dangerous to rats, however. Whereas a rat may be able to live with myco once it goes dormant, URIs are deadly to rats.

Would you say I can introduce her to others if this is the case? My thoughts were, if all rats have Myco there’s surely no way of telling how your rat will react. My girl will always have flare ups but that’s because she has lots of symptoms, my new girls may still have Myco but it may not even show!

 

[SQ]

Azithromycin is not very effective unless given with baytril …… so I would suggest a more knowledgeable vet or one that likes rats and is willing to learn. I hope that you get her on appropriate antibiotics asap.
Baytril + doxy may also help.
They are correct that she may have lung scaring that will impact her breathing.
She may also have a heart issue that is impacting her breathing - there are heart meds that can help

She can be introed to other rats as all rats have myco. Please see the Reference Thread https://www.ratshackforum.com/threads/reference-thread-read-only.35894/ and joinrats.com for information re intros

Here is some info on myco - http://ratguide.com/health/bacteria/mycoplasma_mycoplasmosis.php
If you type breathing into the search bar on ratguide.com you will get a lot of info

*** Please post a video of her and her breathing (post to youtube and then put the link on here)

I hope she is soon on the correct medication and feeling better