Rat sneezing sounds really snotty?

Rats are prone to respiratory infections, and sniffling/sneezing is a common symptom of an underlying respiratory problem. Inexperienced vets will rarely be able to advise you, the most they will do is prescribe you Baytril and send you away. Although your rat's lungs may have sounded clear at the time, respiratory infections can develop in a matter of hours; it is possible that the potential infection has developed further since your vet visit.

If his breathing sounds wheezy (imagine when you have a cold and you breathe and it sounds all rustle-y) then it is more than likely that the respiratory infection has already developed. Upper respiratory infections (URIs) can be easily treated if they are caught quickly. Sadly, URIs will often turn into lower respiratory infections (LRIs) which can be more complex to treat. I will make an educated guess that your rat is currently suffering from or developing a URI, from the information that you have given me. This can be treated with Baytril, however, Baytril and Doxycyline work well together. You should also ask your vet to prescribe you Metacam (manufactured for cats but it works for rats too) which is an anti-inflammatory and will help relieve a bit of the pain. Alternatively, you can use children's Ibuprofen. If your vet does not have any knowledge of dosages, then use the guidelines below to help you:

DOSAGES

Children's Ibuprofen -15-60mg per lb.the lower end is just for pain, the higher end is for swelling. You'll want to stick around 15 just to deal with any pain. (Do not use this as well as the Metacam - only use it instead of).

Baytril - 0.2ml per lb

Doxycycline - 2.5 mg per lb

(Remember that you need to weigh your rat in order to find out how much medicine it needs - I use postal scales).

Baytril roughly costs £7 per bottle, Doxycycline costs around £25 (it comes in tablet form which you can crush) and Metacam is around £2 - Children's Ibuprofen is under £5 (not exactly sure on that one).

I have had to treat rats with respiratory infections in the past - even though he may only be sniffling at the moment, other symptoms may present themselves quite quickly. Even if you just get some Baytril and Metacam, it will still help him along the road to recovery.

Best wishes to you and your little rattie! I hope you find the information useful; if you have any more questions then just leave me a message.

I would try another vet to be honest, Antibiotics will help, but I'm pretty sure unless they are not eating and severely ill they won't need an injection like yours was given which is pretty quick, it needs to be a daily thing. They can have antibiotics orally for example 2 weeks of Baytril and if thats not worked after 4 days ( you must do the full course of 2 weeks even if he is getting better after only 4 days).

I think you should join Fancyratsforum.co.uk they have the best advice and will be able to help you find a good vet in your area.

EDIT: I'm pretty sure that the injection wouldn't last that long because rats have very fast metabolism's and it would be out of his system very quickly. Although he's not very ill yet, its best to tackle it before it gets to that stage if that makes sense.