my baby rat sick and i dont know what to do please help

[jenny_g]

i have a baby fancy rat the past week he has become sick his eyes are watering, nosing and ear bleeding & discharge, he so weak he can barly walk, he walks with his head tilted he barely eating and drinking so i been forcing him i was told to give him amoxicillin and benadryl but he wont take but very little of it i have looked all over the net can cant find anything and there isnt a vet that will see a rat where i live so this is my only hope can someone please help me save my little buster

[littlematchstick]

if his head is tilted...it is most likely an ear infection..and he must be seen by a vet to get doxycycline and likely some Baytril as well. If it is left untreated, it will likely be fatal. Please keep looking for a vet near you to get him the medicine he needs! Where are you located? Someone here might know of a vet near you that can help!

[Jaguar]

The tilted head is a dead giveaway of an inner ear infection that is terribly painful and will be fatal if not treated by a veterinarian.  There's nothing you can do without prescription antibiotics other than try to comfort him while he suffers.  Like littlematchstick said, post your area and we will see if we can help find a vet.

[Leesha]

If you live in a small town it can be very difficult to find someone to care for your rats. I had to go through all the vets in the town nearest to me to find one who will care for my babies. Go through the vet section in the yellow pages and try your best to find someone if you haven't already looked. If there's a big city near you there's probably someone who will see him. Keep him warm and comfortable until then and good luck with him.

[lilspaz68]

Inner ear infection...very hard on wee babies, often can kill and is very very painful doing it.  Needs strong penetrating abs, doxy alone is very weak.  Baytril, doxy, steroid, maybe baytril/clavamox.

But it does need a vet.  Have you called ALL vets in your area, some may be dog and cat vets but might still see your wee fellow? 

If they won't treat him, then it sounds like you have to find someone to humanely put him to sleep.  Do you have a humane society or animal shelter nearby?

[AvaAdoreSmashing]

I would call your regular vet or a nearby vet and ask them to suggest you to an exotic pet vet. Most vets that handle reptiles are usually willing to handle small animals as well. Especially with something simple like this. He clearly has a really bad inner ear infection.

Print this out and bring it to the vets with you http://www.rmca.org/Articles/dchart.htm and highlight mentioned medication. This should make it really easy on the vet if they're not feeling 100% on dealing with a rat but without the medication from a vet he might not make it.