Expert: Sandra Todd - 6/20/2008

Question
hia
one of my rats died a few months ago of mycoplasma at only 7 months old. his brother who he was living with is starting to show signs of having mycoplasma aswell (though not as bad just same discharge and sneezing) was wondering if there was any point in giving him the antibiotics. I gave it to my other boy before but he hated it and started being aggresive and biting me cause he hated having the syringe in his mouth and it made his last (and unpredictible) days misrible. I dont want this to happen to ma other boy as he seems stable for the minite.
I also hav another question should i get my boy some friends he dosent seem to lonley but i know that rats should hav compony and he dosent do anything allday just lies there my parents are also against it because they think he will give the new ratties mycoplasma.
please help and sorry for the long question!!!
vivien

Answer
Hi Vivien

Rat are born with mycoplasma so no matter what, they carry it anyhow. The key is to PREVENT it from coming on the best you can.
Yes you should give him antibiotics. Instead of using the syringe try putting the medicine in food, such as chocolate ice cream. Just a little bit of medicine to a spoonfull of melted chocolate ice cream so he cant taste the medicine and he will lick it right up.  No, the chocolate wont hurt him at all and either will the bit of sugar he will get. Its better he have sugar than die from not taking his medication. The vet should add flavoring to his meds.  What was he taking?  There are only a few drugs that work for myco.

Myco is a hard thing to understand. Please read my website and the page that is all about myco and how to prevent it and treat it so if you do get other rats, you can lessen their chances of having an outbreak.
Certain litters and even the place they live can cause myco. If they live in an aquarium they have a high chance of getting sick because of poor air circulation. If they are on pine or cedar, this also contributes to respiratory disease. Not cleaning the cage good at least once to twice a week depending on how many rats you have can also add to myco because the ammonia from the urine building up irritates their respiratory tract as well. Poor diet such as listening to the pet store workers and buying seed mixes instead of lab blocks are a mistake because rats are not meant to live on seed mixes, this is not good enough for them and they will end up with a weak immune system.
Not that you are doing any of the above but just outlining a few things that contribute to mycoplasma.

Same for vets. If the vet is not fully understanding of myco, they do not realize how they must properly treat it. Baytril, zithromax with a combo of a second drug for secondary infection should be given for at least 21 to 30 full days. Many vets give it for just 10 days which is not enough and they end up sick again. The second attack causes more problems and eventually lung scarring or blistering.
Sometimes rats that end up with chronic myco need to live off a daily dose of medication to prevent an outbreak.
Myco also doesnt just cause respiratory infection. It can cause ear infection, urinary tract infection and even infection in the female rats uterus.  Here is the URL to learn all about it:
http://www.freewebs.com/crittercity/mycoplasmosispage.htm