2yr old (F)Fancy Rat, Lethargic, Stomach Wound

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remiller88

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Saturday I noticed that one of my 2 pet rats (Jinx) seemed to be very lethargic, and when I pulled her out of the cage I quickly noticed a seemingly very large wound on her abdomen. I haven't been able to find anything matching the description from searching google, hoping someone on here can help. The wound is fairly round and slightly larger than a quarter in size. I forgot to take a picture of it or I would post it. I'll try to do that tonight if it's not figured out by then. The only way I can really think to describe what it looks like is a peach pit as far as the texture of it goes. It's very pink/red and mostly scabbing over. I don't know how to approach treating it really so all I've done so far is bathe her both days this weekend in warm water, then dabbed Hydrogen Peroxide on the wound, and applied some Triple Antibiotic ointment. I also cleaned the cage thouroughly and put in new bedding so that she would have a clean place to be after her bath. She does seem to have an appetite but is having trouble eating because of how uncoordinated she is in this lethargic state. I've been able to spoon feed her some peanut butter, but that's about it so far. Hoping someone can tell me what might be happening from this overall description. I'll definitely post that picture tonight if it will help. Thanks in advance to anyone who responds!

--Rob
 
First of all no peanut butter, they can choke on it. Give baby food, baby cereal w/regular ensure, grind up her block food and mix with water. Just some suggestions. Second, no ointments they eat it and that's not good for them. Wounds need to heal from the inside out. Also no peroxide that kills the health tissue.

Okay, was there anything coming out of it? If there was for example green nasty smelling stuff she may have a ruptured abscess. You will need to keep irrigating it to get the rest of the infection out. Its possible she has a ruptured tumor although unlikely if this is something that just appeared and you closely look/feel get over everyday. The fact that she is lethargic is very concerning and is definiately a reason to get her to an exotic vet sooner rather than later.

Ratguide.com - search here when your looking for things

Hope this helps, but without pictures I'm just guessing as it could be many things.
 
First of all, thank you so much for the quick response. I don't know why I didn't think to just wet down some of the usual food since I've had to do that for my cat before..... I've had many mixed signals on peroxide and ointments across the internet and since I didn't know what to do otherwise I went ahead and used them.

No noticeable fluids of any kind coming from it, and to be honest I can't even tell that there is an actual opening in it at all. I will say it definitely did have a stench to it, but nothing other than some slight bleeding from it after the bath.

Since you say it potentially needs to heal from the inside out, should I be washing away the scab that's forming every day?

I'll post that picture as soon as I can when I get home from work.
 
You can keep soaking it in warm water or apply warm compresses to see if it will open. She should not be lethargic though so that concerns me. Is it all blood or blood tinged? I would be hesitant to open something that is bleeding. They can die from blood loss very quickly so again a vet might be in her best interest. They are painful so if you have infant dye free advil you can give her some - if you know her weight and can figure out a dose.
 
I've dealt with VERY bad abscesses that look like that. You need aggressive vet care - debridment, antibiotics, and pain medz
 
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