Oreo's Inguinal Tumor- Open and Infected?

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No bedding, only clean fleece. Just removed and replaced all the extra fleece pads she was sitting on. Would that be OK? She is PICAing on cardboard, or still was last night. I don't want to worry about her eating the paper towels, too.

I was thinking about taking off the collar too, but most of the stitches are still there. This hole is pretty small, right now the pus is gone(where did it go...?), but I can see dark inside so I almost feel like it leads into the internal abyss of her body. In that case wouldn't flushing it with anything, even saline, be super dangerous? I'm having visions of pouring salt water into the inside of her body.... :rant3:
Anyways, I don't want her to rip out the rest and make it worse...

As for buddies, I let them together every now and then, and one of them ignores her and the other once messed with her incision which prompted squeaking. I'll put them back together tomorrow, but I'd prefer not to tonight for the night, because I won't be able to watch them.

I call fleece bedding, sorry! LOL it's all I use. Yes I'd change out the fleece often. If you have any white or light colored fleece that would be even better because you can see better where it is wet.
just keep it super super clean is what I mean.

Gah, I don't know about the flushing either, I have the same concerns as you. get her started on antibiotics asap, and call the vet first thing to find out what to do.

In fact you might want to write down some worst case scenario type questions, so that you'll be armed with ideas for what to do if something else comes up.
Know what I mean?

I always call our ER vets for advice if there's something like this going on and I can't reach my own vet. Even when they don't have specific rat related advice, a lot of times they can tell you what home care is safe to give and what you should run by your vet before you try.

and of course, sometimes they say they can't give any advice without seeing the animal, which is fair.

I don't feel comfortable giving advice on this one. I dont' mean to frighten you but I lost a boy who had a tumor removed from a similar area and a new urethra made. He lost his penis in the process. He got an infection and just couldn't over come it. I don't know how that compares to a female having a new urethra made. but with stuff concerning their plumbing, I worry.
 
I call fleece bedding, sorry! LOL it's all I use. Yes I'd change out the fleece often. If you have any white or light colored fleece that would be even better because you can see better where it is wet.
just keep it super super clean is what I mean.

Gah, I don't know about the flushing either, I have the same concerns as you. get her started on antibiotics asap, and call the vet first thing to find out what to do.

In fact you might want to write down some worst case scenario type questions, so that you'll be armed with ideas for what to do if something else comes up.
Know what I mean?

I always call our ER vets for advice if there's something like this going on and I can't reach my own vet. Even when they don't have specific rat related advice, a lot of times they can tell you what home care is safe to give and what you should run by your vet before you try.

and of course, sometimes they say they can't give any advice without seeing the animal, which is fair.

I don't feel comfortable giving advice on this one. I dont' mean to frighten you but I lost a boy who had a tumor removed from a similar area and a new urethra made. He lost his penis in the process. He got an infection and just couldn't over come it. I don't know how that compares to a female having a new urethra made. but with stuff concerning their plumbing, I worry.
Oh no I'm so sorry about your boy. :cry:
I hope my Oreo will be OK. I'm calling the vet first thing in the morning tomorrow(once again I'll be the person who's ringing the phone before the poor tech even puts down her coat... lol) and asking about all of this. I'm also going to try and go in to see them.

I gave her baytril and a bit extra metacam, hopefully it will help. I'm not going to flush it or put anything on it for now, I think. (I'll probably be laying in bed on my phone until the wee hours of the night, trying to decide what to do.)

I called the emergency vet, they were so helpful and nice, helped me right off on the phone!
They said to just keep it clean and possibly clean it very gently with a warm washcloth, and to bring her to my vet tomorrow. That's what I was planning to do, but I'm just glad they said something similar and were so helpful and nice about it.
 
If it was open to her cavity you would have peritoneal fluid and/or organs coming out. It stands to reason that there is at least fascia and probably muscle as well. There is no harm in gently flushing it with a sterile solution. Don't stick the syringe tip inside, and don't turn her upside down where the fluid could pool. Have someone hold her upright over the sink and let gravitate your friend.

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If it was open to her cavity you would have peritoneal fluid and/or organs coming out. It stands to reason that there is at least fascia and probably muscle as well. There is no harm in gently flushing it with a sterile solution. Don't SICK the syringe tip inside, and don't turn her upside down where the fluid could pool. Have some in hold her upright over the sink and let gravitate your friend.

Sent from my KFTT using Tapatalk 2


You're probably right....
me personally, though, I'd want a vet to look at it or actually, at this point, I'd want the vet to actually be doing the flushing. Maybe even with anesthesia.

I"m not sure Aida has anyone to help her with this, someone to hold Oreo while she aims the syringe, so that's another part of my hesitation to recommend it.
I see her taking photos by herself so that leads me to think she may not have an extra pair of hands around, which would make something like this a whole lot easier. One person holds and soothes the rat, the other can get a good look and do the flushing.
 
You're probably right....
me personally, though, I'd want a vet to look at it or actually, at this point, I'd want the vet to actually be doing the flushing. Maybe even with anesthesia.

I"m not sure Aida has anyone to help her with this, someone to hold Oreo while she aims the syringe, so that's another part of my hesitation to recommend it.
I see her taking photos by herself so that leads me to think she may not have an extra pair of hands around, which would make something like this a whole lot easier. One person holds and soothes the rat, the other can get a good look and do the flushing.
I'll try cleaning it very gently with a cotton swab and some saline now, but I am wary of just pouring it on there so i'll hold off on that.

And Petunia, LOL as lonely as that makes me sound, you're pretty much right. Mom is pretty squeamish. She likes the rats, but doesn't really even know how to hold them, not to mention that she's gone off to sleep.
 
I'll try cleaning it very gently with a cotton swab and some saline now, but I am wary of just pouring it on there so i'll hold off on that.

And Petunia, LOL as lonely as that makes me sound, you're pretty much right. Mom is pretty squeamish. She likes the rats, but doesn't really even know how to hold them, not to mention that she's gone off to sleep.


LOL didn't mean to make you sound lonely.... I live alone and dont' have anyone to help me so I know what it's like.
I pay someone to come in and help with the cat's nails, and I'd pay someone to come help me with the rats If I knew anyone close by who wasn't afraid of them.

Try to get some rest, and give your girl a gentle skritch if she likes those.
 
If it opened up and then cleared up, the infection may have drained out (which may be why it was open), or there was only a little (does it still smell like infection?). Did you actually see liquid pus or did you just think you did? The inner fat layer under the skin looks a lot like infection...its fooled me many times! The surgery was 5 days ago so I am pretty sure the inner layer has sealed and hopefully healed up already so I would gently flush with saline to remove anything from the surface. Your baby sounds seriously bored and frustrated which is why she's chewing. Pica they have a spacey look on their face, and its a total compulsion. She would be eating fleece not just cardboard boxes.
 
If it opened up and then cleared up, the infection may have drained out (which may be why it was open), or there was only a little (does it still smell like infection?). Did you actually see liquid pus or did you just think you did? The inner fat layer under the skin looks a lot like infection...its fooled me many times! The surgery was 5 days ago so I am pretty sure the inner layer has sealed and hopefully healed up already so I would gently flush with saline to remove anything from the surface. Your baby sounds seriously bored and frustrated which is why she's chewing. Pica they have a spacey look on their face, and its a total compulsion. She would be eating fleece not just cardboard boxes.
I really hope it's just fat, but I could smell infection last night,all the way from my bed, or something else insanely strong like that.
Also, I saw more of the white stuff. :(

I think you're right about the pica, because she isn't eating the paper towels she is on. I'm going to put her cagemates back in with her today, after I call the vet and get back from school.
 
Its always a tough call when you have to stop a rat from doing what is natural to it, chewing open and cleaning out an infected wound. We can hope its only a surface infection and nothing more insidious for her sake.

Good luck today!!
 
Its always a tough call when you have to stop a rat from doing what is natural to it, chewing open and cleaning out an infected wound. We can hope its only a surface infection and nothing more insidious for her sake.

Good luck today!!
Thank you lilspaz! My mom is getting me in an hour and we're going. I LOVE YOU MOM!!!!

I hate how, in the end, the hell with this cone didn't even really pay off. The wound still broke open and it got infected.
 
Fingers crossed for your sweetie. Can you ask the vet for pain management too? My vet thinks the rat chews mostly because it hurts where the stitches are. She changed her pain protocol and my rats are more comfortable now with a higher dose of metacam.
 
Back from the vet!

Oreo had an allergic reaction to her stitches. The vet had to put her under, take out all the stitches, and then dig out and cut out all the infected tissue(all whole releasing smells of death, of course.) She cleaned this up and packed it full of ointment, and then just stapled the sides but most of is left open.

In the process, she said that the allergic reaction was on the skin, and the tissue underneath healed, the urethra healed great, and IT IS NOT ANOTHER TUMOR!!!!!!! :bliss:

I'm to double her metacam to twice a day, and continue giving the baytril, which she gave me more of, and also put triple antibiotic ointment on it, like pack it on there, once a day(you were right, Sheldon!!! <3 ).

The poor thing had to be sedated with the gas anesthetic twice during all of this, so she is currently sleeping it off a bit, but she is fully awake and active.



As a last note, I love my vet office. I love love love them. They are incredible people. I called this morning and explained to the tech what happened, and she said to just come in whenever I can, they will take me when I come(trust me, they are constantly busy, all the rooms are always full nearly constantly when I'm volunteering!). The moment I walked in, I maybe sat for a second, the vet herself took us to a room and instantly began examining and taking care of her. She did everything I mentioned above, and then tried a couple things to keep it covered that didn't work. Of course this took a pretty long time, and once again I mention, it was a complete walk-in on a most likely busy day. After wards, when we payed and left, we took a look at the bill and our eyes nearly blew out of our sockets. Dr. subtracted so much from the cost, she "volunteer discount"ed off over $300 from the price, we ended up paying $95. I counted up the costs, and the actual came out to $420, with all the anesthetic, cleaning, visit, stitch removal and staple placement, etc. We instantly called and thanked them when we got in the car and noticed this, and we're going back Saturday, when I'm volunteering, for her to get looked over again. I think I'm going to bake a bunch of cookies or something and bring them in for everyone, too. :sad-p: :heart:
 
I'm glad she is alright and back on her way to healing up again. That is the same thing that happened to Clark yesterday. The metacam wasn't enough for him though and we ended up going back for tramadol. Your poor little girl sure has been through a lot.
 
I haven't caught up on this thread since before her surgery. I'm so glad Oreo is recovering. It's a tough road to travel. I'm glad your mother and your vet are both being so supportive - it makes a huge difference! Give your mom a hug from us. :)
And you should totally make a big batch of cookies for your vet!
 
Joanne, I will and I agree!!!

This Friday I have my first job interview, I especially went job hunting for these vet bills. I will pay her back, but just the fact that she does this for me and my rats, which she thinks is crazy, means a lot.

As for cookies, I'm thinking snicker-doodle and maybe peanut butter? ;)
 
Ooooh, what is in the snicker doodles?
Tons of sugar, brown sugar, butter, and spices like cinnamon/nutmeg!
Totally not healthy, but delicious, the recipe is from my boyfriend. :kisskiss: :threadjacked:

Oreo is about to get meds in two hours or so. She is to be taking the metacam twice daily now, but remember that I quadrupled the dosage of 0.04 to 0.18. Should I give her 0.18 twice a day, or 0.09 twice a day, or....? :(
(1.5mg/ml metacam)

By the way, she went up from 265grams pre-surgery, to 275grams!!! :thewave:
Despite a surgery and a bunch of her removed, she actually gained weight, something she was losing due to the tumor before! Yaaaaay!
And I was very worried that she isn't getting enough food. :kisskiss:
 
Oreo is about to get meds in two hours or so. She is to be taking the metacam twice daily now, but remember that I quadrupled the dosage of 0.04 to 0.18. Should I give her 0.18 twice a day, or 0.09 twice a day, or....? :(
(1.5mg/ml metacam)
0.18 once a day. It has a long half life so lasts for the whole day. Better pain control than half of it twice a day.
 
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