poor Leo
The third antibiotic, which was Chloromycetin, didn't work either. :( At least after the first few doses Leo didn't fight me much anymore because that one tasted sweet instead of completely horrid like Baytril, which he realized eventually, but as a medicine it didn't do any good.
So today I was back to the vet, who's by now quite worried about Leo's breathing, because it's becoming so bad that he wheezes and breathes rapidly. Also he lost some weight from being on antibiotics for so long. He still eats well and doesn't have diarrhea so that is something, and I've been giving him some pro-biotic yogurt in hopes that it helps him some with the digestion side effects. At least he was quite a sturdy rat, so he's not gaunt yet.
I've been given a fourth antibiotic (called Borgal, also to be given orally twice a day), but the vet did not seem that optimistic, because by now they are running out of drug choices and apparently myco isn't sensitive to a lot of things to begin with on top of becoming resistant really fast, and of course they first try the antibiotics they know to work most often on this, so each further down the list has either less chances, or it's the more toxic ones with truly scary side effects (like the last one listed as side effects bone marrow damage and all sorts of scary blood disorders as side effects). Though it's not like there is any other choice except to give up entirely and just wait until the pneumonia is so bad that I'll have him euthanized.
Anyway, I'll see later tonight how bad this one will taste to him, and maybe this one will help after all. *crosses fingers*
ETA: The new antibiotic is one of the horrible tasting ones. For this first dose I managed to ambush Leo, because he was docile, and still expected it to be sweet like the last one, but once it was in his mouth he frantically tried to wipe the remnants off. I suspect tomorrow morning is going to be interesting. I tested a smear that got on my finger against my tongue and it was horribly bitter just on contact with this minuscule amount, and left an awful aftertaste that even drinking water doesn't remove. I know understand his desperate wiping action, I have the same impulse. And I got much less in my much larger mouth. Bleh.
So today I was back to the vet, who's by now quite worried about Leo's breathing, because it's becoming so bad that he wheezes and breathes rapidly. Also he lost some weight from being on antibiotics for so long. He still eats well and doesn't have diarrhea so that is something, and I've been giving him some pro-biotic yogurt in hopes that it helps him some with the digestion side effects. At least he was quite a sturdy rat, so he's not gaunt yet.
I've been given a fourth antibiotic (called Borgal, also to be given orally twice a day), but the vet did not seem that optimistic, because by now they are running out of drug choices and apparently myco isn't sensitive to a lot of things to begin with on top of becoming resistant really fast, and of course they first try the antibiotics they know to work most often on this, so each further down the list has either less chances, or it's the more toxic ones with truly scary side effects (like the last one listed as side effects bone marrow damage and all sorts of scary blood disorders as side effects). Though it's not like there is any other choice except to give up entirely and just wait until the pneumonia is so bad that I'll have him euthanized.
Anyway, I'll see later tonight how bad this one will taste to him, and maybe this one will help after all. *crosses fingers*
ETA: The new antibiotic is one of the horrible tasting ones. For this first dose I managed to ambush Leo, because he was docile, and still expected it to be sweet like the last one, but once it was in his mouth he frantically tried to wipe the remnants off. I suspect tomorrow morning is going to be interesting. I tested a smear that got on my finger against my tongue and it was horribly bitter just on contact with this minuscule amount, and left an awful aftertaste that even drinking water doesn't remove. I know understand his desperate wiping action, I have the same impulse. And I got much less in my much larger mouth. Bleh.