Hard swollen abdomen?

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fenshae

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 18, 2009
Messages
1,124
Location
Las Cruces, NM
All I can say today is "wtf?!"

I noticed Einstein snoozing today and something about him just seemed "off" so I brought him out. Last night he seemed totally fine while we were doing intros, if a little thin. I remember picking him up last night thinking, "jeez...you've lost some weight in your hips" but that was it.

Well, anyway, today I pick him up, and he's STILL thin in the hips, but his belly has ballooned out. It's firm and bulging, seems slightly more bulged to the left than the right. If he were a girl I'd swear he was pregnant, it's that sudden and pronounced. I'll try to get pictures up here in a minute if I can get him to cooperate.

I have no idea what's going on! He's acting normal, while I had him out he was his same active, curious self, he kept jumping from the bed into the laundry hamper (it's about a foot away) without any problems. He's just...newly pear-shaped. Also, if it means anything, his testicles and penis shaft both seem somewhat distended, they're not as "high and tight" as his buddies are but that might just be age.

Einstein is just a hair shy of 2 years old. Any thoughts?
 
OK, got some pics. They're not great, but hopefully they'll help. The swelling is kind of subtle if you don't know Einstein's normal body shape...he has always been VERY small and sleek, built more like a girl. I checked his penis and it's fine other than the distended shaft I talked about. The glands...I forget what they're called...but the glands right above the penis are palpable but I don't think anymore so than normal. But maybe they are. I dunno. Anyway, after some more thorough feeling around, his left side is definitely the swollen side...it's firm and sort of lumpy to the touch. The right side is distended but squishy-feeling.

I'm so scared this is some kind of internal tumor or late onset megacolon :(

einstein3.jpg

einsteinbelly1.jpg

einsteinbelly2.jpg


For comparison, here's what his normal body shape looks like:
einstein.jpg

(from last night)

rats2-1.jpg

(from a few weeks ago...he really likes the laundry hamper)
 
When you feel his abdomen can you detect a mass of any kind? Has he eaten anything out of the ordinary in the last day? Is he pooping and peeing normally?
 
I was checking for a mass and it's hard to tell...like I said, that side DOES feel kind of lumpy, but I'm not sure what that lumpy-ness is. He's eating like normal but he did pig out on treats last night, he had a handful of roasted soy nuts. I haven't personally witnessed him pooping/peeing, but there are definitely raisins in the hammock where he's been snoozing all day....
 
I've seen hard distended abdomens in dogs and it turned out to be bleeding caused by a liver tumour. Not sure what this could be, but I would say it's unlikely to be late onset MC... FPA done by a vet may reveal if it's blood building up in his abdomen or if there are malignant cells present. I don't know, but this is something I would go to my vet for right away.
 
I wouldn't jump to megacolon as a possibility. More like I would think some kind of internal mass, or fluid as Victoria suggested. Fluid build up (whether it's blood or another fluid) can come on very fast and appear very much the way you described. I've not personally seen it on rats, but I've seen it in other animals.
 
You're probably right. I saw a case study on Ratguide of megacolon-type symptoms being caused by a mass inside the rectal wall, is what made me think of it. Internal mass/fluid does seem more likely. I wonder if he fell and ruptured something, somehow...an internal mass seems more likely, though, especially since he has been slowly losing weight. That's exactly how old lady Velvet died -- she lost weight, then ballooned up and quietly died in her sleep.

I'll call the vet first thing in the AM but my chances of getting in over the weekend are slim. Aaaargh! Why do rats never get sick on Mondays?!

Is there anything I can do for him in the meantime? I've got Lasix and Ibuprofen, that's pretty much the only meds in the house right now though. He's been sleeping most of the day in the hammock with his new friends...Ginji has been at his side almost all day, I think he's worried.

This is so out of nowhere....I'd kind of gotten it into my head that Einstein was immortal, this is sooo scary all of a sudden.....
 
You didn't mention one, so I'm assuming it's not an option but wanted to make sure: no e-vet you could take him to? Also, as far as calling in the morning goes, you might just have to stress to them how urgent it is, that he needs to be seen NOW, not over the weekend or Monday (I mean, I know you realize this, but they need to also and may not at first). Plus, if you think about it, if someone's pet gets hit by a car or in some sort of accident or whatever sort of emergency situation during the day, vets will see them. Make sure they realize this is an emergency, not just something that's gradually shown up like some tumors or something.
 
AlexP said:
You didn't mention one, so I'm assuming it's not an option but wanted to make sure: no e-vet you could take him to? Also, as far as calling in the morning goes, you might just have to stress to them how urgent it is, that he needs to be seen NOW, not over the weekend or Monday (I mean, I know you realize this, but they need to also and may not at first). Plus, if you think about it, if someone's pet gets hit by a car or in some sort of accident or whatever sort of emergency situation during the day, vets will see them. Make sure they realize this is an emergency, not just something that's gradually shown up like some tumors or something.
Click to expand...

Finding a vet to see a cat or dog in an emergency isn't the same as finding a vet to see a rat. Going to just anyone can do a lot more harm than good, so it may be best for her to wait until she can see someone she trusts.

I was thinking about it some more and kidney issues sometimes present with weight loss and fluid retention/swelling of the abdomen, as can lymphoma. Both would be bad but kidney issues can sometimes be managed. I would not give anything until you see a vet, if it's something with the kidneys/liver you can do more harm trying to help. You can offer him plenty of fluids, especially something with electrolytes, as it will help replace some of the fluid he's "lost" to his abdomen, whatever it is.
 
Alex - yeah, as Victoria says, there isn't a rat-friendly e-vet in town. I sure wish there was :( But there's only one vet I trust anywhere nearby (I live in a rather rural and somewhat backwards area, lol), I've been burned so many times by others who are either completely inept or just don't seem to care about rats.

Victoria - Kidney issues seems likely, actually. He does seem to have been drinking more these last few days, I've had to fill up the water bottle about twice as often lately. I didn't think anything of it.
 
Oh no I know Victoria. Judging by the fact that she didn't mention an e-vet originally, I figured that meant she didn't have one that she trusted, I was just confirming that (probably more out of curiosity, because I really don't think Fenshae would've forgotten that lol).

Fenshae, I know what you mean about rural/backwoods small towns (I'm from Kansas) lol. Luckily, the university I'm attending has a vet school, and I really couldn't ask for anything better. I've been able to go there except for one minor thing (I had a rat with an infected foot wound and wanted to confirm the dosage of antibiotics as I had some from a recent rat illness that I hadn't started [it was the second course and Holly died before the first course was finished], so I figured that was fairly easy lol plus I knew they were good vets, just didn't really see rats, and they admitted they needed to look up the dosage which made me feel a whole lot better than if they'd pretended to know what they were doing when they didn't). Or at least, until this past weekend. One of my two new guys has a URI and I needed antibiotics, but finances were an issue. The vet I was able to get him to was very nice, and gave me Baytril, but only gave me enough for 7 days at 1x a day originally (since then I've gone back and gotten more). Anyway, I'm really not sure WHY I mentioned all that, except to say that it's made me appreciate the other options I usually have and I think given me a better understanding of your type of situation. Plus it's 1:38 am and I really should be sleeping so that's also probably playing a role into my rambling, lol. I sincerely hope Einstein starts feeling better soon *big hugs*
 
Hopefully if you stress emergency that can not wait, they will see you today.
You might ask to bring him in and wait until he can be seen (or just do it), or ask to speak to the vet.
good luck
 
If you want to palpate his abdomen but aren't sure what you are feeling. First do the same thing to a healthy rat and then feel up your boy, you wilsl quickly figure out if there's something there that shouldn't be.

Drinking more water as they age is actually part of the aging process and renal failure, its not a fast thing. See what you feel and report back here.
 
fenshae said:
He's eating like normal but he did pig out on treats last night, he had a handful of roasted soy nuts.
Click to expand...

For some reason, my mind keeps coming back to this... Do soy cause gas? Could that be a possibility?
 
If the swelling had slowly come up over time then tumor would be the first thing to suspect. Where it is acute, presenting in less than 24 hours, then it is either fluid (body fluid, blood, or pus) or air (gas).
If this was a person, the first thing they would do is an ultrasound to see what's going on.
I don't know if fine needle aspiration is a good thing to do or not.
Maybe an x-ray?
 
...OK, now he's got me even more confused.

I wake up this morning and immediately go to check him out and he is back to being completely normal. He's mad at me from poking and squishing and dangling him for like 10 minutes, and now all of his cage mates are mad at me for doing the same to them, BUT his profile is back where it should be and his energy level is back up like nothing ever happened. Wtf?

Maybe it -was- just gas? The location where I felt something bumpy would have been roughly where his stomach is (assuming rat's stomachs are in the same place as people stomachs) so if it was bloated up that's probably what I was feeling...and since he's so tiny it was dramatic....? Now I am SO confused.
 
Here's hoping it was just caused by too much of a good thing, and his little belly couldn't handle it all at once. I'm glad he's back to normal! Hopefully this was a one-time thing and it doesn't happen again.
 

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