Rat hurt her tail and foot

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Bella10291000

Member
Joined
Jan 6, 2021
Messages
14
Location
Brookline, New Hampshire
Hi guys! Today while cleaning my rat cage my little crazy girl jumped onto her wheel that was laying on my bed since I had just cleaned it. She then knocked it off the bed and it landed on her tail and foot. Now her foot is swollen like a balloon and her tail has a gash in it and I finally got it to stop bleeding. I called the vet and they told me that since she still running around like crazy that I should just keep an eye on it and if swelling doesn’t go down in a couple days to make an appointment. I was wondering if anyone has any tips I can do to help her foot and tail. This is my babies first injury. Her sister and her are inseparable. Do you think her sister will chew on her cut? I want to separate them but nervous that it will make them lonley. Any tips or help at all would be amazing! Here’s pictures below
 

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Do you have any children's ibuprofen, or metacam? She needs a dose of one of those. It will help with the pain (and I guarantee there is some pain), and the swelling. You'll need her weight in grams, and then message lilspaz with her weight, and the strength of the meds, and she can help you with dosages. I'm pretty sure if you keep the tail clean, and get the swelling down on her foot, it'll be something you can avoid going to the vet for. Rats heal extremely fast. No need to separate the girls. That'll just stress them both. But the idea of one level cage would probably be a good idea for now.
 
Do you have any children's ibuprofen, or metacam? She needs a dose of one of those. It will help with the pain (and I guarantee there is some pain), and the swelling. You'll need her weight in grams, and then message lilspaz with her weight, and the strength of the meds, and she can help you with dosages. I'm pretty sure if you keep the tail clean, and get the swelling down on her foot, it'll be something you can avoid going to the vet for. Rats heal extremely fast. No need to separate the girls. That'll just stress them both. But the idea of one level cage would probably be a good idea for now.
Thank you! I’m glad to hear that I can keep them together. I’ll go out and buy children’s Ibuprofen and her weight is around 363 grams. I just joined this site today after this happened so I’m extremely new to this website. Who is lilspaz and how do I find there account? Again thank you so much for your timely response!
 
Ohhh ouchies!!

Lets hope its a bad sprain not a break. Take pics again tomorrow so we can see how its doing
At 363 grams with Childrens Ibuprofen (20 mg/ml) her dose will be 0.36 ml every 4-6 hours.
 
Thank you! I’m glad to hear that I can keep them together. I’ll go out and buy children’s Ibuprofen and her weight is around 363 grams. I just joined this site today after this happened so I’m extremely new to this website. Who is lilspaz and how do I find there account? Again thank you so much for your timely response!
Ohhh ouchies!!

Lets hope its a bad sprain not a break. Take pics again tomorrow so we can see how its doing
At 363 grams with Childrens Ibuprofen (20 mg/ml) her dose will be 0.36 ml every 4-6 hours.
just gave her her first dose. If she’s walking around and putting a little weight on her foot and moving and picking it up every once in a while do you think it’s more likely a sprain than a break? I hope so! I’ll send some pictures tomorrow. Again thank you!
 
For future reference, if you need to message someone, just go to the little envelope at the top of the page, and start typing in their name. It should bring up the options of people to message. 😁
 
your msg to me, directed me to your thread. I was having a very busy day working remotely, and might not have seen your post for ages...you totally did the right thing.

How is she today?
 
your msg to me, directed me to your thread. I was having a very busy day working remotely, and might not have seen your post for ages...you totally did the right thing.

How is she today?
She’s doing good! Still moving around, sleeping a little more than normal but I’m guessing she’s just sore. I’ve been dosing her every 5 hours and her leg is less purple but still swollen. She still grooms herself with that hand and uses it to eat with so I think she’s doing okay. Her tail is scabbing over. It’s a black color right now but I think it’s just real dark red that’s dried blood. How often do you think I should clean her tail? Or should I just let it heal? I just don’t want it to get infected. Thanks for all the help!
 

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If its sealed now stop cleaning it. Keep an eye on it for infection but hopefully it willl just heal.
The sprain is a bad one or possibly a break but theres little you can do but try to encourage them not to use the swollen limb. See if you can keep her in the base of the cage with her food, water, house and hammocks down there.
 
Sorry, I never replied, forgot to check back on the website. I stopped using the ibuprofen on the 8th, her tail scab fell off and looks very healed, now it's just a tiny little cut that's barely noticeable, and her foot is only a tiny bit swollen but also very noticeable and she is back to her crazy self. Thank you so much again for all the help :)
 
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