Injured Young Rat

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sonnyvincent

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I have a 5-6 week old rat who was injured in a fight with her cage mates and has a wound on the side of her head and was bleeding from the mouth right after she was attacked. She hasn't been very active since this happened (around 4 hours ago) but her breathing seems to be worse (you can hear her breathing) everytime she takes a drink or is active for a little while. If she just lies still she still is breathing fast but you can't hear it.

I called the emergency vet who basically told me there probably isn't anything they could do. If she makes it through the night I'll take her to the vet that has experience with rats.

Is there anything I can do to make her more comfortable? Should I leave her be (does stimulation make the pain worse?)

I feel so bad for her. She's just in the corner of the cage. When her breathing calms, I can't even tell if she's still alive unless I reach in there and disturb her.
 
What does the breathing sound like? How old were her cage mates? Can you post pictures of the injuries or describe them better? Did the bleeding stop? She sounds like she needs a vet if you tell us where you are we might be able to direct you to one.
 
So i must ask how old are these cagemates. Babies cannot live iwth anyone other than mom till they are at least 8 weeks old. One bite can kill them.
 
Has the bleeding stopped, especially from the mouth? How much blood was lost? She could be in some shock. If there's a chance of another attack, perhaps keep her in a medical cage with some soft food and water and a warm blanket to allow her to rest (such as a cat carrier) and keep an eye on her. For the wound on the head, gently dab it with a soft cloth and warm water to clean the area and apply a topical antibiotic cream like Polysporin. Check her for any other bites. The main thing is that she is kept hydrated (a bit of watery Pablum or wet baby food to keep her strength up; if she's still eating and drinking on her own, that's good). And keep her comfortable and away from any other risk of attack. Is she in with siblings or other young rats? Is this a new introduction?
 
I didn't know that the bigger rats would go after rats that young as we'd never had a problem integrating in the past but now of course I have found out she shouldn't have been with them yet, and I do feel awful about that. I didn't know that after a certain age, older rats aren't integrated as well with younger rats, as I've only owned rats for a year and they've just reached the age where they aren't accepting. But I've learned a lot from this situation, and will definitely be more careful in the future.

The bleeding stopped quite quickly, and after she had a couple of drinks the blood from her mouth was gone. I'm attaching a couple pictures from not too long after it happened. She does have the wound on the side of her head but it didn't bleed much, most of the blood was from her mouth. Her hands & feet are clean now,these photos was within an hour of when it happened so she was still pretty bloody.

When I posted my message, her breathing was really labored and almost wheezy, but that has stopped now. At that time she was isolating herself and facing a corner in the cage. I've been offering her water every hour or so. Another group suggested offering her honey, yogurt, or baby food. She was interested in the baby food but not for long, and whatever she tried to eat she didn't swallow (it came back out of her mouth 15 minutes later :(,)

She does seem a little more comfortable now. She was staying away from her littermate earlier, but is now sleeping with her. Her breathing is still a little fast but not noisy, and not as fast as before. She's also not in the corner of the cage, she's under one of the domes and lying with the littermate on a rat bed.

If she makes it through the night I have already found a vet that specializes in pocket pets not too far from where I live that I'll take her to. If nothing else maybe he could give her pain meds so she won't be so uncomfortable.

hurtrat2.jpg


hurtrat1.jpg
 
OK, well, bad news. I just checked on her again. I really think she's dying. Her littermate was lying with her, but her breathing is really bad again and she's hacking, and she was just lying there with her eyes open. :( I probably shouldn't leave her with her littermate overnight should I? If she were to die? I feel so bad :( I really thought she was doing better
 
There is no ER vet you can take her to with basic knowledge of live saving measures? If they could at least stabilize her until you can get her to the vet tomorrow...

Her breathing was perfectly normal before? I an beginning to wonder if she aspirated some blood. Or she could have airway inflammation which is why she wouldn't be able to swallow. In which case a steroid would do a world of good. Surely any old vet could look up the dosing on that.
 
the wound is outside of her neck, but she was hacking up blood and blood was coming out her mouth? It sounds like the bite was a serious one and went straight through her neck so she aspirated blood for sure. :( Was she swallowing too or just open mouth gasping?

Does she feel cool to the touch? This is often a sign of shock, or even impending death. :( You could take her and put her on your bare skin under a shirt to help her with the cold body. If she's able to swallow try to get some sugar water into her (with a teeny pinch of salt) to help her recover. If she's unable to swallow, you are just going to have to try to keep her warm and wait.

I assume you moved her and her sister out of the cage with the aggressive female, who was probably protecting her territory?

Later on, we'll help you with how to do proper and much safer intro's. I am sorry you had to learn this lesson the hard way :(
 
The Emergency Vet I called told me there was nothing they could really do for her given her size and age. I called a vet this morning that was recommended to me and took her there as soon as they opened. =

The good news is that the vet said she thinks the rat will make it; of course it's possible she won't, but that the wounds aren't as bad as she'd imagined when she read the notes on how the rat was attacked.

She gave her injections of Dexamethasone and Baytril, and I'm going to take the rat back for the next few days for a shot each day of the Dexamethasone as I really don't think I can give her oral medication the way her injuries are set up. The vet seemed to think the injections are a better idea too.

The only thing I was a little unsure about is that she said the rat's too young for them to want to give her medication for the pain. She did say the steroid would help some.

So we'll see.

She wasn't hacking up blood last night, she was just hacking. She pretty much stopped bleeding within the first few minutes after the attack and hasn't had bleeding issues since. Her breathing gets labored but then settles, gets labored, then settles. The vet did say the congestion is in her nose as opposed to her lungs which she said is good.

Oh and yes it's just her and her sister together now in a single level cage away from the other rats completely. I'm not sure I'll even try introductions with older rats after this. I'll just separate the levels on the Double Critter Nation.
 
the horror stories about giving baytril to a young rat that need it are not worse than the horror stories we give about not introducing babies to adults. I wouldnt worry about what the meds can do sometimes it is more worth the risk than it is to not use it out of fear. Zithro is baby safe I believe and so is amoxi but to me amoxi is a weaker antibiotic and with major injuries you need all you can get. Sorry you had to deal with this but this is why we always warn about introducing young. Wait till they are about 8 to 10 weeks old and do intros slowly never just toss them into the bigger rats cage they will see them as intruders.
 
Hey Peggy, can they give her infant advil for pain since I think she should be on something for the pain. Hope she recovers, poor little thing.
 
There's really nothing I can do about it now, I don't quite understand why people can't resist the urge to rub a mistake in people's faces when obviously it was an accident. It's not going to change anything at all to try and make someone feel worse than they already do. I suppose she'd have been better off if I'd left her in the feeder bin. I've introduced babies to these rats before, and there were no issues (8X over). I did not know that when they reached a certain age they'd become less accepting. I would have no reason to maliciously put a rat in with my other girls knowing they'd kill her.

She's no better since the injections, in fact now she won't drink at all.
 
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You might want to try coconut water or pedilyte. Do you have syringes? If so, you can try to gentle syringe fluids into her. Its possible she doesn't want to drink because it hurts or its swollen so if you syringe go very slowly. Perhaps when you take her to the vet tomorrow they can give fluids SQ. Maybe even some frozen pedilyte. Just do your best that's all you can do.
 
I am glad that you found this site as there is a lot of experience and helpful info on here.

btw, Baytril should never be given by injection to rats as that will cause health issues and rats have bled to death as a result. It is given orally. Injectable baytril can be given orally if mixed up to make it taste ok.

You might try getting her to take ensure thickened with baby cereal (kind that says add milk)
or organic soy infant formula thickened with baby cereal (kind that says add milk) .... organic soy infant formula is the closest thing to a mama rat's milk
You can also soak lab blocks in cool water to make mush

Baby needs to stay hydrated
As mentioned above, perhaps vet will give sub-Q fluids if she is dehydrated

As long as it does not hurt her, you might try feeding her pedilyte (pharmacy) or organic soy infant formula (pharmacy or grocery store) one drop at a time with a syringe (no needle) into the side of her mouth - you do not want her to aspirate.

Keeping her safe with her littermate is important ...
She may need something for pain - ask vet (lilspaz68 on here can also advise you)
She should likely need to be on antibiotics for 4 to 6 weeks or so - suggest azithromycin (10 mg/Ib, twice a day, your vet writes a prescription for a pharmacy) or baytril given orally twice a day (dose varies from about 5 mg to 10 mg/Ib, twice a day)

Just so you know, rats under 12 weeks of age are considered babies and will accept other rats as playmates. But if any rats are 12 weeks or older then they are territorial and there are established, gradual intro steps to follow so that no one is hurt .... intros are hard work and depending upon the rats, may take several weeks or longer. As mentioned above, babies need to be around 10 weeks old before being introed to rats over 12 weeks old - they need to be old enough to defend themselves but intros will be easier if they are under 12 weeks old.
 
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UPDATE: She seems to be doing a lot better. She's a little more active, is grooming herself a little, and was even climbing on the side of the cage. She was in the food dish, although I'm not sure she was able to eat. I offered her some warmed up baby food (vet suggested this, in case she was having issues smelling) and she took maybe one lick but wasn't interested. She'll take small drinks but it has to be at the side of her mouth so I really think her mouth is a major source of pain for her. I don't think I would be able to get medication in her which is why I'm taking her daily for shots. Is there anything that I should ask for, for pain or antibiotic, that can be injected?
 
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I have nothing to add on actual life saving care as I think the above people covered it pretty well.

You were asking about pain management though...since you are going to the vet daily anyway, why not ask for a pain med injection? I know the vet said she's young blah blah, but it can be much harder to coax her to do things like eat and drink if she is in a lot of pain. From there the problems just snowball. I would suggest meloxicam injectable but she can't have that while getting steroids. Maybe they could give a half-dose of stadol??
 
She needs oral antibiotics and pain meds.
Pain meds chosen to be given should have an anti-inflammatory effect.
As a baby, the amount of oral antibiotic given would be very small, thus possible to get into her.
azithromycin is an antibiotic for human babies/children and works well with rats (10mg/Ib, twice a day for 6 weeks)
 
We have to remember she is a baby and is still leery of strange food so it might be harder to get her to take the baby food, etc.. just keep trying. You can get a syringe from the pharmacy just ask for it without the needle. If you drip the fluids she might lick them. Do you know her weight? Glad she is feeling better. I'm sure she is in pain. We usually give metacam for pain, but I don't know if little ones can have that. Infant advil dye free, but you would need the proper dose. As mentioned before lilspaz68 is the one to ask about meds and doses, but she needs a weight for your little one. If you are giving her oxbow or lab blocks you can soak those in water or ensure so they are soft and that might be easier for her to eat...

You CANNOT give metacam for at least 72 hours since your rattie has gotten dexamethasone!!! You have to stop the dex for 72 hours before metacam they do not mix almost forgot that.
 
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so should the pain med with antiinflammatory effect be instead of the steroid
this vet seemed final about there being no pain med option,
should i try a different vet?

called vet. shes 3 0z or 100 grams
 
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