I have not posted in a really long time and posted somewhere else, but I remembered how amazing the people on this forum were!
I recently rescued two sister's from a friend of a friend that moved away. They clearly had respiratory problems so I took them to the vet who prescribed Baytril, Meloxicam, Vibramycin, and then also said to increase their caloric intake. One of the rats died before I could finish the treatment and even though I have 1 day left and Abi has gained weight, she just does not seem to be getting fully better. I've had rats before and I know the signs and the vet clearly thought exactly what I thought by prescribing those specific meds. Now that Sadie has died I know that I need to get more aggressive with her sister and I do have an appt. with the vet on Monday. Does anybody have any ideas of what I could ask the vet for? I don't want to go in blind and I am surprised that those 3 meds haven't made a serious improvement in 13 days! I'm really worried because she is such a sweet little lady and now that she is alone I really want to get her better so that I can move her in with my two 9 month old females once a full quarantine is over with. She can't be older than 1 1/2...she has so much life to live! Any ideas would be amazing!

Can you post a video of the poor little lasses' breathing?

Is it seriously congested? if so try lasix, but make sure she drinks enough as sick rat can dehydrate dangerously.

Are her lungs not getting enough air and it sounds constricted when you rat phone her? It might be pulmonary abscesses and you can add a steroid (dexamethasone is my fav, fast acting and longer lasting than prednisone)...this should reduce the inflammation in her lungs allowing her to be more comfortable and breathing better.

I have noticed the addition of zithromax to be very effective with persistent URI's and even pulmonary abscesses a bit (which is not curable).

How old is your little lady?