Recurring URI

[TorachiKatashi]

Poor old Whiskers man has recurring URIs. The Baytril seems to clear it up every time he's on it, but once it's done, he's back to being sneezy and porphy within a week. I'm going to call out to the vet to get a refill on his Baytril, this will be his third time on it since he came to me in April. The only thing I can figure is that he must have some kind of permanent resp. damage done from living on cedar/pine bedding before he came to me. I keep their cage very clean and I'm careful to keep out anything that might be smelly and make them sneeze. Oskar has been fine since his URI earlier this year, and Vin has been fine since he stopped his meds the same day as Whiskers about a week ago. I'm going to do six more weeks of the Baytril for him, and if he starts up again after that, I might have to see about putting him on it permanently. Is there anything else I can do for him? What else could cause a URI to clear up, then keep coming back?

 

[victoria]

How long are you putting him on antibiotics? How long do you keep giving it after symptoms disappear?

 

[TorachiKatashi]

The first two times were three weeks; I did the first three weeks then got a refill afterwards for another three weeks. There was a couple of weeks in between, so this time I'll make sure I get the refill even a day or two before the first three weeks runs out. In both those cases, he stopped showing symptoms about a week to ten days after I started the Baytril. This probably has no relation whatsoever, but he's starting to drag his hind feet a little bit, but at his age, it's probably HED starting to set in.

This there a reason why rats needs medication for such longer periods than other pets? Even after my cat had a major surgery, he was only on antibiotics for two weeks.

 

[victoria]

Rats already have weakened immune systems and respiratory tracts because of Mycoplasma, so that may be part of the reason they need antibiotics longer. Post-op antibiotics are often only given to prevent infection, so the course is shorter than if there actually is an infection.

Three weeks is considered the bare minimum for an effective course of meds with rats, it sounds like you should try 4-6 weeks if it keeps on coming back and wait two weeks from the last symptoms. I would also talk to the vet about giving two antibiotics as there is probably some antibiotic resistance from the last two rounds of meds.

 

[lana]

Put him on aminoglycoside and fluoroquinolone together as a combo drug therapy for several weeks.

gentamycin and baytril / amikacin and baytril / tobramycin and baytril. The Aminoglycosides have to be nebulized or injected. If nebulized - 1cc medication to 3cc of saline. Previous advice I received from the forums on nebulization dosages were too low, unfortunately.

Ciiprofloxacin is also a fluoroquinolone and is indicated to be more effective in some strains of Pseudomonas aerouginosa.

If you can afford it, get some culture swabs done. It will make a huge difference in moving forward with an effective treatment plan.

Long story short here is that I used to do rat rescue and was scratching my head at the various respiratory ailments. Myco was only one thing going on - it was evident that other bacterias were affecting them. Spent a fortune on vet bills, meds, received amazing advice from the forums, and in the end was fairly knowledgeable and traumatized, and swore to never get a rat again.

Always had pigs and started doing pig rescue. Several pigs arrived from several shelters etc. and damn if the same symptoms weren't appearing in the pigs. Took two in for swabs and it came back with four different respiratory ailments. However, the common thread in curing or controlling most of them was aminoglycoside or fluoroquinolone. Some were good with Amoxicillin, but pigs can't have penicillin meds. But, I came across a study that showed that combo therapy of aminoglycoside and fluoroquinolone negated the bacteria to zero in a matter of hours. However, Pseudomonas aerouginosa is drug resistant and requires treatment for six weeks if you hope to beat it.

Before I did the testing, my pigs responded to baytril, but would become ill when the therapy stopped. Turns out Ciprofloxacin was more effective in two of the four strains of pneumonia. Also, with aminoglycoside, one has to be careful about not creating a super bug. So no missed doses and make sure the meds are given in sufficient doses. Also, the fear of kidney damage isn't really an issue with rats & pigs. It certainly is with dogs & cats, but aminoglycosides clear the system in rats and guinea pigs in two hours. I have my pigs watermelon during & post treatment and didn't have any issues whatsoever, even though I had them on gentamycin for six weeks.

I have Amikacin and Tobermycin here too and they were effective in some pigs, but not others. Amikacin is an extremely expensive old-school drug. I have several vials here because I had to buy a box. Tobermycin is used in cystic fibrosis patients and appears to be safer than Gentamycin and Amikacin.

I'll dig up the studies and post them here. but if you can afford to get a nasal swab done (two types) - nares and orophayngeal -- you will know what path to follow. I did days of research and now feel confident in how to approach these respiratory ailments. In fact - I adopted to male blues this weekend

 

[jorats]

I've had a few rats needing long term antibiotics and even some who were put on Baytril forever. Post mortems have not shown any issues with long term Baytril on the organs. (so far)

 

I would suggest a full 6 week treatment ..or Baytril + Zithro or Doxy (for 6 weeks) or long term baytril after trying combos ..Dr. D. is great for prescribing meds for 6 weeks and doing combos.

I suggest you make an appointment with him.

 

[rattytat]

I agree - try to get an app't for Wed. afternoon. Renee and I will both be there - 5:20 and 5:45 (I think)

 

I agree - try to get an app't for Wed. afternoon. Renee and I will both be there - 5:20 and 5:45 (I think)

hahaha yes Weds. Yours is 520, mine is 540 (right after yours, apts are 20 mins) :giggle:

 

[TorachiKatashi]

All I can give right now is the Baytril, but if six weeks of it doesn't work I'll have to try combining it with something.