My girl Claire has near-constant respiratory problems. She'll get snorty and wheezy, we go to the vet, she'll get a course of Doxy or Baytril, respond within five days or so. We continue all the courses to the end and she'll be great for up to 2 months. Then it'll happen all over again, poor girl. 

I've read about some people having their rats on a constant low dose of meds for their lifetime. How does this work, and in what situations is it appropriate? Are there concerns about creating resistance? How do the results differ from treating the rats only when they are symptomatic, and what are the long term health benefits, if any??

My second question is this: given the cost of vet care and the fact that myself and my bf, the rats' other caretaker don't have a lot of $$ to spare, it would make a lot of sense to cut out the middle man-- vets are expensive and at a certain point it doesn't seem to make sense to pay somebody $60 to tell us what we already know.  I know there are places we can get meds without a prescription, and we know her dosage (.04 ml at a concentration of 50 mg/ml) BUT I know this is probably a source of great debate. What would be wrong about doing this, could it be appropriate given our situation and our level of education about rats.

PLEASE no flaming, I am asking for advice and have not yet taken this course of action. This would most definitely not mean that any of the rats would cease going to the vet for other health concerns. If you feel strongly please tell me, but be nice 

The "Rat Guide" website lists a maintenance dosage for Baytril of 4.4 mg/kg.  I've got an older guy, Riff-Raff, who has chronic flare-ups of his myco.  What I have been doing is giving him doxy/baytril for 30 days.  After that, his symptoms clear up and he seems to feel better for a couple of months.  Then another flare-up will occur.  At this point, I'm considering doing the maintenance dosage of Baytril and see if that will help him feel better all of the time.  Since Baytril is strictly a veterinary drug, you'll have to go through a vet to get it.  You could see if you can find it cheaper online, and have your vet provide a prescription so that you can purchase it through the online site.

One question though-- how long do you keep Claire on the meds when she is being "snorty"?

Deb

OK ... I'm not sure if you are aware of this but 14 days isn't a long enough course for rats with upper respiratory infections.  For maximum effectiveness, it is recommended to treat for 3-4 weeks.  I've heard some of the more experienced rat owners on here say that you should treat for one week longer after the symptoms (sneezing, noisy breathing, etc.) disappear.  But usually course of treatment is 30 days.

Deb

Before you finish up the 14 days on this current course, you could call the vet and ask for a refill for another 14 days.  Would be worth a try. 

Deb

I have a good vet who trusts my judgement and lets me treat my rats when they need it without going to see him.  I have a constant supply of Cefadrops, baytril, in pill form with dosing instructions, and doxy in pill form with dosing instructions.

I can buy as much baytril in liquid and tablet form as I like, along with however many tubes of vibravet I want (chocolate flavoured doxy paste- rats loooove it). I also have a supply of metacam, pred and amoxicillin (I have a pregnant mouse who needs antibiotics as a precaution for her abscesses and baytril/doxy are no good during pregnancy so amoxi is handy to have on hand) in tablet form for emergencies and such, since tablets keep much longer than any of the liquid meds.

I love that my vet trusts me enough to self medicate, it must have saved me so much on consult fees over the years  It's also great in that you can get your rat on the appropriate meds as soon as you notice the problem instead of waiting two days to get them into the vet (since they always get sick on a saturday- seriously why is that?).