Vaginal bleeding in one of my rats

So, Dotty is new-ish to my home. She's been here a couple months. She's been in good health so far. She came very timid and she's become social and active finally.

This morning I was playing with the rats while I cleaned out their cage, and I noticed some spots of blood around Dotty's vaginal region. Not a lot, but it's definitely blood. I dabbed her clean and checked for cuts or scrapes - she had been wrestling with Gumdrop earlier - and there doesn't appear to be any injury. So I'm forced to assume that her bleeding is internal. We're going to the vet early tomorrow morning, but I was wondering if anyone has any idea what might be wrong with her. This isn't a thing that I've ever had happen in any of my rats before.

I would put her on Baytril and see if it clears up. If it persists it could be pyometra, but hopefully it's just a genital myco infection. I've had 3 girls bleed vaginally, 1 was pyo, 2 were myco.

I'm out of Baytril, but I'm going to the vet as soon as it opens tomorrow. She'll be on antibiotics first thing tomorrow. I really hope it's just a treatable infection. She hasn't shown any other symptoms of an infection or illness. So would that be a sign that we caught it early, or is that just typical for gential infections?

I can't really help you, I dunno what it could be. But I wouldn't worry- you're catching it early and going to the vet fast, and that's great.

Is she spayed? If not, I would treat it as a bladder infection unless the vet can palpate something in her uterus. Hopefully it's just a regular bladder infection and nothing too serious.
Baytril should help.

jorats said:

Is she spayed? If not, I would treat it as a bladder infection unless the vet can palpate something in her uterus. Hopefully it's just a regular bladder infection and nothing too serious.
Baytril should help.

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She is not. She and the other two girls came from a foster home and the woman who had them had not spayed them because two have very bad lungs and she thought Dot was already spayed. She went into heat a little while ago and we realized that she wasn't. I've been trying to find out how old she is so I can decide if having an operation would be too risky. I hope it is just a bladder infection. We'll find out tomorrow.

If it's blood from her vagina and not bloody urine from her urethra, it's not a UTI. It's more likely a genital myco infection (relatively easy to clear up with antibiotics) or pyometra, which would require a spay. You'll probably get antibiotics and if it doesn't clear up, then you can discuss surgery.

We're headed off to the vet. Thank you guys. I'll let you know what we hear.

Okay, so Dr. Arel found a small cut on the edge of her vagina and, because of how little blood there has been and how sporadic it has been, she thinks right now that that might be it. So she has me cleaning her genital area twice a day and she's on a light antibiotic since it's in such a sensitive and easy to infect area. And that's what we're treating it as right now. If it starts to bleed more or if she starts to show any signs of illness, we're upping her meds and treating it as an internal infection.

Great news

:heart: :cuddle: Healing vibes from all of us :cuddle: :heart:

dspch911 said:

:heart: :cuddle: Healing vibes from all of us :cuddle: :heart:

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Thank you.

It's been a bit of an ordeal honestly. Back when I had the General, she was such a well-behaved patient that I've been spoiled. Dotty has just been starting to trust me and trying to get her to take the oral antibiotic has been very emotionally trying for her, and very difficult for me. We have to do much snuggling and cleaning her up afterwards because she gets it all over. But the good news is that there's no more random bleeding and the area looks much cleaner and healthier now that I know about it and have been keeping her clean and dry. I just have to keep her away from Gumdrop while she heals, because Gumdrop always wants to wrestle with her.

Bad news. This morning, I went to feed them and Dotty was bleeding more than the first time and it was definitely coming from her vagina. Tomorrow, we go to the vet. We are now assuming she has an infection or that she has a more serious problem with her uterus. She is still acting as happy and healthy as ever. She's out and playing right now. I'm trying not to be too worried because I don't want to send bad vibes to the girls, but I am very anxious. Hopefully we can get her healed up soon.

Don't worry, you guys only have to wait till tomorrow! And then you'll hopefully figure out what it is and be able to treat it.

Dotty is now on Baytril and I am contacting a couple of other hospitals. My doctor is very good at diagnosing and treating small animals, but she has never performed a surgery on one. So she gave me the names of two doctors to call to consult with if it turns out she does need to be spayed. I'm already looking up the hospitals to contact them, because I would like to have my options laid out soon. I don't like wasting time when their health is at stake. So I'll be giving her the medication and hoping it's an infection, but if things don't start to improve, I'll be looking into having her spayed.

She needs more than Baytril if it's genital myco, you either need to give her Doxy or Zithro with it. Good luck, I hope it clears up.

victoria said:

She needs more than Baytril if it's genital myco, you either need to give her Doxy or Zithro with it. Good luck, I hope it clears up.

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Thank you. I'll email my doctor.

:heart: :cuddle: :hugs: EXTRA healing vibes from me and ALL the boys :hugs: :cuddle: :heart:

So, at first it seemed like the treatment was working but then it started again. Dot will have to be spayed. I've already called a doctor who specializes in exotics and has performed spays on rats and other small animals. I'm really not feeling good about this, but I don't have another option that I can see.

I would think it was pyometra and with vaginal discharge it means the cervix is open allowing the infection to flow out which is the better pyo to have. How is she acting, does the discharge smell? I am sure all will go well, as long as your vet is confident!