One boy sick slightly

[EDK]

Hey guys, well after 2 weeks of watching very carefully of the new boys, turns out I noticed there was discharge coming out of one of the smaller boys, Nes, the white/cream dumbo boy.

I took him to the vet this morning asap, not wanting a repeat of what happened to Techno. Turns out its a minor infection, there's nothing wrong with his lungs, but the vet persribed aggressive doxy of .5cc twice a day, with the nebulizer therapy solution of Amikacin 25omg/ml 1.0cc, Dexamethasone 2mg/ml 4.0cc, and Saline (NaCl) 90ml (as needed) which im treating him with that i think 3 times a day to be on the safe side. Orginally the vet also perscribed Baytril as well but realized they were out and wouldn't get a shippment in till Tuesday, however the vet thinks doxy and the therapy should be enough, if not to come back and add Baytril to the mix on Tuesday, and he'll be due for a checkup next Saturday.

Status of Nes, well he absolutely hates being forced medicine down his throat, he makes it very difficult. He screeches, not squeaks, SCREECHES and claws my hands! and bares his teeth when I tried to give him the doxy this morning. I'm almost scared he'll bite me if I push harder on him, but i managed to get some down him, problem is I have to do this twice a day and I have no idea how we're gonna do this if he's gonna fight this much. But he's eating great, he's very energetic and playful with the other boys, running and hopping around when I got him back in with his brothers, he was very happy to be back on familiar grounds, so that's good and he's plumpy lol. So I guess, if there's any advice on how to get Doxy down him without much of a fight? I'd appreciate that.

 

[mamarat]

Give him a treat right after the meds. He'll come to associate meds with treats and it has helped some of mine taking the meds.

 

[Dahlas]

I sometimes put meds on a bit of bread and made little bread balls....which where gobbled right up...Or try putting it in a very small bit of strawberry syrup....whatever it is you want to make sure he eats it all up..

 

[Petunia]

if you're sure he'll eat it, you might try putting the doxy on a little pc of cracker and giving him that

I can totally relate, I'm treating a boy with doxy right now myself and he clamps his jaw tight if I try to get the syringe in there
I was able to do it the first time but since then I've been putting his meds on a bit of a cracker, and giving it to him right away before the liquid turns the cracker mushy
I use big enough pc of cracker that he doesnt' notice there's anything on it

so far, so good

good luck with your boy!

 

[EDK]

Well turns out I noticed Dax has a bit of discharge too and i orginally was treating him with a bit of doxy as well, seems i need to treat them both, and yes Dax is old enough for the meds now. But they totally hate the therapy too so ya I'll defiently give them treats asap as they are done. At least Dax will take the Doxy, but i'll have to trick Nes with that bread crumb idea, thanks for the advice guys!

 

[SQ]

Yo can add a drop or two of strawberry quic to the doxy, a few drops of water, and thicken it with a bit of baby cereal.
My rats think this is a wonderful treat

Be careful re what kind of baby cereal you choose since calcium will make doxy less effective
If the doxy is working, they will need to be on it for at least 6 weeks

 

[trihkal]

I hope they feel better soon.

 

[MissGuardian]

I mix mine with å bit of mayonnaise and water.. mine fight for it

 

[EDK]

Well turns out I think Nes was just spooked by a big surenge pointing at his face, and a sudden cool substance hitting his mouth. So i tried a different approach (though btw I used the bread crumb trick and that worked great too) but I was real tired this morning and sick and just wanted to try one last time on the surenge approach. I gently placed a drop on his lips while holding his head gently, he allowed it to sit there a moment, then he quickly lapped it up, resulting, he actually wanted more and tried to grab the surenge lol. So lets see how long that goes, if not as successful then I'll use the bread crumb trick again.

 

[mamarat]

Good for you and your sweetie.

 

[EDK]

So far so good ;D but i'm not sure if im seeing improvement or not, i think i may call the doc about the baytril tomrrow

 

[trihkal]

Oh what a good idea! I hope it continues to work and that he starts showing improvement asap.

 

[hprats]

I mix mine with a tiny bit of chocolate pudding on a spoon. It has to be non dairy, though I dont know why. For some reason my boys will only take meds soaked into bread for a few days and then they catch on and won't touch it. They love the chocolate pudding though so I have to be careful to give thethem at the exact same time or they'll try to steal from their friends instead of waiting for their own. Silly rats.

 

[EDK]

They seem to take it ok on normal standards though I won't speak for the other boys if they ever have to take meds lol. Well darn it I was expecting to pick up baytril today but their shipment was moved to tomrrow pfft...well the 2 boys Nes and Dax seem to be doing ok so far, still hearing some sneezing but no more discharge, but i aint taking chances.

 

[EDK]

Hmm, i think baytril is doing the trick! Both boys aren't sneezing as much anymore, in fact not ONE sneeze all last night and today! now its just a matter of continueing treatmeant and fattening them up. I think the antibiotics are hard on both of them so im feeding them extra calories such as baby cereal, eggs and some meat. They LOVE eggs and a bit of non-salt turkey meat, munchy munchy hehe

Bonding wise we're still having some minor issues. All 3 new boys are scratchy when I handle them, despite all the treats and words of encouragement I've been giving them, but it's been 3 weeks now, and I guess its too early to say for sure when they'll fully be used to me. I guess after this month and a few more weeks if they still aren't comfortable around me, I better try a new strategy.

 

[mamarat]

So happy they're doing better.

 

[EDK]

Honestly they appear to be like they never had a problem at all now! No sneezing, no odd nosey sounds, no constant itchy of the noses. Both act as if they never had it at all wow! But I won't pull off the meds till the vet says otherwise, to which we see tomrrow. It just makes me wonder, have i'd seen this vet the first time and not my former vet...would it have made a difference with Techno