Throttle Wotysg Dec. 20, 2012 to Jan. 31, 2015

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dspch911

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2012
Messages
7,963
Location
Chicago, IL
I'll start by saying, I dropped the ball on this one! I noticed a couple days ago Throttle's face looked swollen and the past couple days he's been a fluff ball, but I've been distracted and forgot about it and didn't look him over until today when his swollen face caught my attention again! He has a hard lump on the left side of his mouth the goes down to the bottom of his jaw... He squeaks when I touch it or try to open his mouth. I don't think he can eat solid foods and he just looks miserable. I'm not even sure he can open his mouth. So for now he's on baby food and metacam until he can see the vet tomorrow. Its not anywhere near where a ZGT would be. I'm hoping this is some kind of abscess, but its really hard.
 
Oh no, I hope it's not a tooth abscess either. It could be a blocked salivary gland. If it is, I'd get him on meds and drained before it gets too big.
 
Oh no, I hope it's not a tooth abscess either. It could be a blocked salivary gland. If it is, I'd get him on meds and drained before it gets too big.


11am tomorrow....he's eating a bit some baby food and a piece of avocado, but that took awhile. I just hope its nothing major....
 
Seriously? Holy crapola you need a break. I am glad you picked all the boys with problems LOL holy cow even the left overs I have here have been ok I think you just picked all the ones that will get you in the vet every other day :) Give him kisses for me. Although 3 of his sisters have had tumors already so It isnt just them sadly.
 
My Gosh... enough is enough isn't it??? You (and your ratties) don't get a break!

You might be very surprised what you find in there. Esprit did have a facial mass... I was worried about ZGT even though placement seemed off, but I find it so hard to judge on a dumbo. Went to the vet, she suspected bone cancer because the mass was so horribly hard. I requested an aspiration since it really felt like an abcess to me, and she came back saying she saw something bony in the area and was asking if she could put Esprit under light anesthesia to take a closer look... Turned out it was an abcess, yes, but jeez... there was tooth growing inside her cheek!!!!!!!!! And all those long horrible minutes, I was preping myself to get her PTS because I thought the tumour actually crashed her jawbone!

I really need to post a picutre of that tooth... I just can't part with it, that's my weirdest issue so far!

She is doing well, the abcess is healing nicely, so don't get too desperate, you really never know!!!!
 
Well, the news started out good and then went to bad possibly really bad. She sedated him to aspirated the lump and take an x-ray. The tech then came and asked me to came back to where he was - "Oh crap, they want me to make a decision on whether or not to wake him up, damn its that bad!" That is the thought in my head. No, the computers were down so I had to go back there to see the x-rays, alright I'm breathing again. Tech could of handled that better. Anyway, seems like just a tooth abscess, but there is bone damage to the jaw. She is going to look at his teeth and take out the bad one, lancet it and clean it up. He has an arrhythmia (suspected that), but heart isn't enlarged some fluid in the area.

No loose teeth, nothing to pull. Found another pus sack in his mouth and drained that. Bad news still has the hard lump under is chin and jaw has bone damage. He was in pain even under sedation when she opened his jaw he started twitching a leg had to give pain medication by injection. She looked at the pus under microscope there is a lot of white blood cells and something less indicating infection, but there are also cells that most likely indicate cancer - bone cancer! We will know in 48-72 hours - I had to know so I did have them sent to a pathologist. Its possible its not, but its most likely these abscesses were from an infected tumor (the lump under his chin)

So for now he is on tramadol, metacam, doxy, baytril, and another antibiotic (starts with a M). He is on soft foods - baby food, yogurt, etc. We can offer him hard food and see if he'll eat it, but it will probably be too painful for him. If it is bone cancer we will let him go - I will not let him linger in pain or let him exist drugged up to try and ease the pain. Of course, if anyone has any other suggestion or experience with this feel free to let me know. She also told me we should write a book on everything that could go wrong with rats.. My response, then no one would want them as pets!

Axe goes in tomorrow since he isn't responding to the doxy/baytril he's been on for month ... cannot wait for that diagnosis!
 
I agree, if he has bone cancer it's best to let him go. There's nothing you could do for him.
Boy, you sure are getting hit hard... Poor you! Poor Throttle! :(
 
I'm sorry the news isn't better. If it isn't bone cancer, then what?

Poor guy. Sending him lots of warm vibes.
If its not bone cancer its just the abscess and hopefully all these antibiotics will make it go away, but the lumps usually disappear after drained and he still has the hard lump under his chin combined with the jaw bone damage and no tooth they can find that could be the cause leads to its most likely cancer.

She said there were some things we could try, but we didn't get into it. Its already too painful for him to open his mouth and that was before the procedure today. He is trying so hard to eat .. I just gave him some yogurt and cut up strawberries. Poor guy whole left side of his face is swollen and I just hope its not filling up again with the pus.
 
Really hope your boy pulls through all of this. Like yourself, I've had one thing after another with my furry babies lately. It drives you insane doesn't it?? I'm a vet nurse and I can honestly say I've seen rats and other rodents pull through this kind of problem with good med regime but on the other hand I've also seen those who don't respond so well. Fingers crossed and the best of luck.

I swear, my rats will turn my hair grey soon!
 
Best wishes for you baby.
My goodness...you deserve a break for sure!

You have my full admiration for all that you do for rats:hug4:
You are a saint & have a heart of gold & nerves of STEEL !
 
:hugs: I was hoping for something minor... poor you and poor Throttle. Sending "good news" vibes for the test results... and "pain, leave him alone!" vibes for your sweet boy...
 
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