Long term use of baytril/doxy

[1a1a]

Hello,

I have an incredibly old lady rat called Paris who's got very
persistent myco. Over the course of the last year she's been on doxy,
baytril, zithromax, clavulox, gentamycin and the doxy/baytril combo.
Nothing is working, my normal vet admitted defeat (he's the run that
gave her the Antibiotics cocktail). I tried a new vet who diagnosed
her with pneumonia and put her on baytril/doxy and who thought she
improved a little from the first visit to the second, but she's been
on that combo for a month now and she's far from recovered, just like
sick but stable.....new vet recommends keeping her on baytril/doxy
forever but this worries me immensely on account of this is
antibiotics we're talking about here, they're full on! Would it be
better to give her breaks from the meds every few weeks? Are these the
right meds for her to be on? Might she be better off it I step it down
to just doxy or maybe trade the baytril for zithro?

Thank you anyone who can help

[donna...@gmail.com]

Hi
You may have been given an answer to this already. It is perfectly safe to keep rats on doxcy/baytril indefinitely. Sometimes you have to. I've had many who are on it for life. Either doxcy alone (if I can get away with that as the minimum, then I do) or with Baytril if the doxcy alone does not keep respiratory at bay. Have you tried nebulizing? Gentamycin is the drug of choice for this. It works because it is delivered directly into the lungs, provided the lungs aren't too damaged. A very old rat, though...a bit like old humans - frequently die of pneumonia. If there is any sign of laboured breathing and distress, euthanise immediately. Unless you can give oxygen treatment, the lungs are no longer able to do an air gases exchange and are failing. Drowning in lung fluid is a horrid way to go.
Donna