# Can baytril get rid of an abscess?



## Babs (Jan 26, 2012)

Hi!

Sorry to start an entirely new thread, but I couldn't find much information on this and I genuinely need to ask, so here it is: will .01ml of baytril be enough to get rid of an abscess? 

My little hairless female, Roo, came with us to the vet yesterday while Darcy was receiving some post-op care. She was just there because the vet had never seen a hairless rat before and was really curious about them, but of course while he was holding her we spotted a lump on her neck. He gave me the baytril, said it is probably an abscess, and sent us on our way with instructions to give her the .01ml of baytril per day. 

I've never heard of an antibiotic being used to just make an abscess go away. I always thought the only thing you could do was lance and drain them. So should I also try to bring it to a head as usual, or can an antibiotic really make it essentially disappear? 

Thank you in advance


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## LightningWolf (Jun 8, 2012)

in Theory yes, if it's caused by a bacteria, since Baytril is used to kill bacterial infections.

if it's not from a bacteria, then it won't do anything. If it's not a bacteria do the lance and drain or put honey on it twice a day.


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## Babs (Jan 26, 2012)

I see, I was thinking of doing the honey thing actually. Though I can't help thinking the other rats would see it as a garnish of some sort!

Anyway, that's exactly what I needed to know so thank you very much!


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

The problem with abscesses is their nature. A rat's body will wall off and encapsulate an infection, a foreign body, but this walling off also means that its cut off from blood supply and antibiotics will have a lot of trouble penetrating it. If you really believe its an abscess, warm damp compresses on the lump to get it to come to a head are a better way to go. Where exactly is the lump, how old is your girl and could she have fought with a cagemate? Could it be a cyst instead? Can you feel the lump itself? Does it feel like it goes into her body or its just in the skin?


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## PurpleGirl (Oct 12, 2012)

I was given the same baytril prescription for one of my rats when I took her to the vet with an abscess, it didn't help at all and the vet I saw after that told me that the gunk inside was very hard and that baytril wouldn't have been able to break it down and get rid of it like it could have with a regular soft-pus abscess, so it required to be drained instead.


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## Isamurat (Jul 27, 2012)

Baytril can be very effective on abcesses if it gets there, depending on the bacteria in it, some it is effective against, some it doesnt have a great inpact. You can get the content checked out at a lab if your interested but its not cheap and I only do it if I have a run of abcesses in my group or persistant ones I cant shift. To be honest my antibiotic of choice for abcesses is synulux, its broader spectrum than baytril and so may be more effective against a wider range of bugs (though interestingly is ineffective against myco as it acts on cell walls which myco doesng have). 

In terms of how the antibiotic gets to the infection though this can be an issue. For abcesses beneath the skin, especially glandualr abcesses, which are what neck abcesses normally are when you cant see a wound, these are best treated by antibiotics by mouth, so you rely on the rats system to get them into the abcess, something that doesnt always work. If its a surface or open abcess antibiotics are far more effective when squirted into the abcess, so acting topically. Honey is also good for these, it depends how bad or stubborn they are.

To be honest though in tne majority of minor abcesses, be they surface abceses or minor glandualr abcesses I dont tend to treat, beyond monitoring and when they come to a head soaking and removing the scab to help them drain and flushing regularly if required. I only use antibiotics for reoccuring abcesses or those that take more than a couple weeks to come to a head. This is because if they dont come to a head externally there is a real risk of them popping internally, this leads to systemic infections and sceptecimia, something I nearly lost a rat to once when I believed a lump was more likley a fatty lump. Injecting synulux and intensive care saved him, but if I hadnt known tne symtpoms for sceptic arthritis he would have died before I could work out he hadnt just sprained something (his foot inflated).

Cysts are also common in rex and hairless in particular, these feel like small hard lumps in tne skin, so they move with it. These I would leave to thwmselves, they sometimes come to a head and can be popped out of tne skin (they appear to be hard matter, often internal fur and similar) but rarely cause any issues or pain. They can sometimes abcess when they grow big, but normally they come to a head at this point.

You know its a little sad I know this much about abcessea lol, amongst my rat friends im someyimes known as the abcess queen. Ive just had a couple spats where most of my rats have had abcesses and had to really research it to find out whats going on and how to stop them getting more. Glandular abcesses in particular can be persistant and often need a bit of help.


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