Backstory: Several rats died. Only thing visible was a little blood around the nostrils. Lots of sneezing started quickly. Some became lethargic with labored breathing.

Initial treatment: Started them on Tylan last Friday - 3ml of Tylan 200 per gallon of water in 8oz water bottles. Started with sugar mixed in for a few days and then stopped the sugar. Refilling bottles twice a day with a complete wash and fill every three days.

Initial results: Sneezing has almost completely stopped after a few days. Very sporadic now like it was before the illness. One female died one week after treatment started and another (isolated female) was put down at the same time with labored breathing.

Vet visit today: Pet rats kept separately from feeder colony were still sneezing. Vet prescribed Baytril and Doxy for 14 days. Vet said to cull any rats in the breeding group that had blood in their nostrils or showed symptoms like sneezing or difficulty breathing. Bacteria is very easily spread, He said to continue with the Tylan in water for the main group and disinfect everything with CHD.

Prognosis: The bacteria stays in their system and can (most likely will) cause another outbreak which will require another round of Tylan. Only way to get rid of it is to cull all of the rats and start over but no guarantees because most rats will also carry the bacteria.

Vet said that it would be OK to feed reptiles the rats that were infected. He also said the Tylan in the rats' system would not be an issue for the reptiles either and would not have a cumulative effect.

Office visit with medication came to $200 but I needed the consultation for peace of mind. The pet rats being medicated with Baytril and Doxy have no better chance of recovery or eliminating any reoccurence than the ones on Tylan. Save your money.

NEED HELP - Does anyone with LONG TERM (years) rat breeding experience have anything to add? Are your experiences different? Does the URI reoccur with any frequency or were you able to know it out? How? Anything else you could add would be appreciated.

Thanks.