My rat has a limp. Help.

Please Help! When I checked on my boys yesterday, I noticed Lestat, my dumbo rat was not putting any weight on one of his back legs and his foot looked a little swollen. When I checked on him today there was no improvement. He is in a cage with a reg. fancy rat, they are both about the same size. I am really worried about him. Is there anything I can do for him, here at home before taking him to a vet. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

He probably injured it playing or falling off a ramp if there are any on his cage. You can give him metacam if you have some or infant tylenol. Soak it in cool water a couple times a day.
http://ratguide.com/meds/nsaids/meloxicam.php
http://ratguide.com/meds/analgesics/acetaminophen.php

As previously mentioned, give him metacam as it will help with the swelling, in addition to pain
Watch out for swelling as it can be dangerous if there is too much

SQ said:

As previously mentioned, give him metacam as it will help with the swelling, in addition to pain
Watch out for swelling as it can be dangerous if there is too much

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Thanks for the help. Lestat is feeling a lot better. I gave him some infant Tylenol for 2 days in very small amounts since I wasn't too sure on the dose. But it helped tremendously, two days later he was putting some weight on his foot and within a few days he was walking better. Today when I got him out to play I lost him in the couch and when he popped back out he limped on his foot for a few minutes then continued walking normal. So I figure his foot is still a little sore but I'm sure with time it will heal.
Thanks again for all your help.

Anna Allison said:

Thanks for the help. Lestat is feeling a lot better.

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In the future, please check to see if medications are safe for rats (many are not) and the dose (which is based on the weight of the rat and on the strength of the med).
A good place to check is ratguide.com ….. it is a vet approved medical site for rat owners.
For example http://ratguide.com/meds/analgesics/acetaminophen.php

Glad that Lestat is feeling better

In the future, you might want to keep infant liquid ibuprofen on hand for just such emergencies. Tylenol is only good for pain and not swelling, so likely it was a mild sprain and it resolved on its own. With Tylenol you have to give many times more than ibuprofen, whereas ibuprofen is good for pain AND swelling/inflammation.