The juice idea actually sounds great. I had the same experience as yourself--two new baby rats for $2.99 apiece, one starts sneezing and then the other, and $120, two vet visits and 1 1/2 months later, they are slowly getting better. Sapphy has the same gasping problem as Mongo--it's horrible to watch! Our vet put them on Sulkaprim first, which Petzl (yes, the company--she's a great spelunker!) would not eat except on hard toast. It didn't help, so the next step was Baytril. When I told her that I was having trouble dosing them with Sulkaprim, the vet put the Baytril in a cherry syrup, which they like enough to have learned to drink directly out of the syringe. They are also on amoxicillin--it is pink and smells like the penicillin syrup I used to get as a kid--and will take it directly as well.
By the way, Tom's of Maine makes a nonalcoholic children's pseudoephedrine syrup for congestion. I mix this with the Baytril as they will not drink it directly, and that usually works unless the fluids separate in the syringe. Petzl weighs about 100 grams and I give her .04 mL; Sapphy weighs about 150-70g, and she gets .08mL. There have been no ill effects thus far, unless it makes them a little hyper (could be all the sugar) and seems to help reduce the congestion and consequent suffering. I may not even be giving them enough, but I haven't found any recommendations for an exact dosage.
Hope Mongo gets better!
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