[silkpajamas]

TLDR: ok to use human albuterol inhaler on rat for multiple days?

My boy (1.5 yrs) became very ill with a resp infection 1 week ago. He has been on Baytril and Doxy since then.

On the evening of day 6 he looked really bad (very slow resp rate, bad retractions), and I thought I might lose him. I consulted with The Rat Lady's First-Aid suggestions, and she said in the case of resp distress you can use a human albuterol inhaler or nebulizer treatment. I had an inhaler on hand, so I tried it. Within 30 minutes he had turned around completely, and was trotting about and eating voraciously like his old self.
Since then I've called my vet 4 times and left voicemails asking her if she would send me the bronchodilator she had previously offered, since the inhaler helped so much. No response. If she doesn't get back to me, is it ok to continue to use the albuterol inhaler 1-2x day to keep him breathing easy?

 

[silkpajamas]

If anyone is curious, I met with my vet yesterday and she gave me an oral bronchodilator, but also told me that by all means use the inhaler if I have trouble getting the medicine in him or if it's not providing enough benefit.
So the answer is YES, you absolutely can use a human albuterol inhaler on a rat that is laboring to breathe. Dosing is same as for a human (1-2 puffs every 6-8 hours as needed), and the best way to do it is put a toilet paper tube around the mouthpiece and then next to/over the rat's face.