Girl with a Stump

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Amaginon

Active Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2015
Messages
36
Location
Brisbane
Hi, I got four babies two weeks ago (they were 6 weeks old). 3 Males and 1 female. I do NOT want babies so she will be getting fixed at the end of next month, but for the moment she has a cage to herself and my older male (as he is not interested in sex). But the reason I got her, is that she was placed in an ad from the same place as the males but she had a foot missing (and I am a sucker for flawed/imperfect beings).

Now she still has a stump up to her elbow. And it does not stop her moving around at all. She can run/climb very well. But a stump is not really a foot, it is not really made for the wear and tear like a foot is. So I am worried it will cause her issues latter on if she keeps using it to move around. I do not want to amputate it at the shoulder because she also uses it like a hand to hold things, to groom her face etc. She could even use it to climb up a plastic broomstick (it was at 90' but still pretty good).

I did wonder if something like a small "rubber" button/foot could be glued to her stump so the wear and tear would occur on that, but I don't know. I mentioned it to the vet and she said she wasn't sure (NOTE: I do not plan on doing anything myself, just ideas for the vet).
 
First of all, you need to separate her from your older boy immediately! You have no idea when his interest may return.

It is great that you are going to have her spayed as it is not only important to prevent pregnancy, but and ovariohysterectomy will prevent many life threatening health issues. A girl going into heat every 3 or 4 days will also have an impact of all intact male rats .... as it is stressful to them and can effect their behaviour.

As for the stump, I have a girl with a stump as well ..... their young mother over groomed all the babies and all are missing toes, parts of tails and one girl is missing all except the heel of one foot. My vet has said that because Carly walks on her stump the skin will hopefully harden and she will be fine. At times the stump has become red and inflamed and the vet has put her on clavamox. When Carly was a baby the skin wore away on her stump and the bone protruded at times ...... so much more of her foot is now missing then when Carly was a baby. Carly seems to be doing ok so far and will be a year old in Nov. Below is a picture taken shortly after Carly was rescued as a baby with her siblings ... as you can see she not only has a stump but is also missing part of her tail.
...... so my suggestion would be to keep an eye on it. She may need pain meds or an antibiotic depending on what happens ..... but it is unlikely that her leg will need to be amputated.

Any pictures???0
 
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How old is your old boy? Elderly ,frail and maybe HED?

As for wee girls stump, it really depends on her. If she uses it too much, it will abrade, get sore and even infected. At that point you would want to consider the amputation to the shoulder. Is it a fire or hind leg? I have had rats with both and also had amputations with both. Pics will definitely help us :)
 
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