Abcsess gone wrong - the saga comes to an end

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Good Karma

Good Karma

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 25, 2007
Messages
353
Location
Guelph, Ontario, Canada
Hi Everyone,

About 2 weeks ago one of my boys developed an abscess between his eye and ear on his face. I cleaned and drained it (it was gross and pussy) and have been putting Calendula ointment on it. Soon after, another abscess developed under his ear. I cleaned and drained that one as well (also pussy), put cream on it and it has healed amazingly well! You can't even tell there was anything there.

Unfortunately the original abscess has not healed - its remains scabby. It has not filled again but it doesn't seem to be healing.

To make matters worse, i was inspecting him more closely today and noticed a) that he has a head tilt now; he tilts his head down toward the side with the abscess, and b) his teeth are being worn down on an angle! Its like his jaw no longer lines up properly! What is happening here? I am freaking out!

I work at a vet clinic so i will be bringing him in tomorrow. However, my vet has very little experience with rats. Could you give me some ideas as to what is going on to help my vet and i treat it?

Thanks so much guys!

Tara
 
This sounds exactly what is going on with mamarat's Hawkeye.
He is currently on Clavamox, hoping to bring down the abscess if indeed it is an abscess. If not, our vet will attempt to remove the mass.

Whenever there's an abscess, I always recommend never putting any healing promoting ointment on the abscess, better to keep it open to flush several times a day. It is important for the abscess to heal from the inside out or else it will simply seal in the infection and start all over again.

I would recommend a teeth trimming and put on Clavamox. If it's an abscess, it should heal. There could also be an underlying issue, like a tumor which has started invading the ear and jaw which I hope it's not in your case. It does seem to be the case with Hawkeye, your vet should be able to feel along the jawline also, perhaps aspirate to check on the cells, they can sometimes see if cancer cells are present.
 
Thanks for the info.

When i cleaned the abscess it totally opened up, so i wasn't plugging up anything.

His face seems very hard around the abscess. I can't see into his ear too far, but i do see some red, maybe just regular discharge.

Do you guys know where i could find instructions on trimming teeth?

Thanks,

Tara
 
Oh, do you guys know dosing for clavamox? What strength and how much for a 1 lb rat?

And do you know why his teeth are wearing slanted? Is it because of the head tilt or could there be an issue with his jaw?

Thanks again
 
The teeth wearing unevenly could be any combination of things, but I'm thinking it's a jaw issue. Shelagh, do any of your tilties wear unevenly???

I have to wonder if the abscess is deeper than you realize, and that's why it's not clearing up.
 
When Willow had her face abscess her teeth looked misaligned too but it was because her face was so swollen with the abscess. Once it went down her jaw and teeth were fine. I hope your rattie heals up fast!
 
Hi Everyone,

My vet and i have been doing a lot of work on poor little Gumby's abscess and i thought i would share with you guys. We don't know if we are doing the right thing but we are doing all that we can to keep it clean and drained.

I have been taking Gumby to the vet almost everyday since Monday. On Monday and Tuesday we cleaned and flushed the abscess with Chlorhexadene soap and sterile Sodium Chloride. My vet dug out a whole lot of disgusting cheesy pus. It was amazing how far down you could get the cotton swab/tweezers - this hole is huge!

We also trimmed his teeth - because of this abscess his jaw has gone crooked and his teeth we no longer lining up.

On Thursday i took him back to work. We decided we had to make this abscess drain or the pocket would just keep filling up with pus and the pus would have no where to go.

We decided to try and reopen the hole created by the other abscess behind his ear that healed incredibly quickly. So first we used Lidocane to numb the area. We used a catheter to reopen the hole (for those who doesn't know what a catheter is: when you put in an IV you use a needle with a plastic tube around it: the needle goes into the vein with the plastic sleeve, then you remove the needle and attached the IV to the plastic catheter that is left in the vein). We then threaded suture material through the catheter. We removed the catheter. Then we sewed the suture material to a cut piece of drainage tubing and pulled the drainage tube through the hole. Lastly we sutured the drainage tube to his head so it would stay in. We tried surgical glue first but it wouldn't stick.

Gumby was awake for whole whole procedure and was such a good boy holding still! I cannot believe how amazing he was!

We then gave him some antibiotics directly into the abscess. My vet was saying that antibiotics often don't work for abscesses because the abscess changes the Ph and the antibiotics can't get through. So she thought that getting the antibiotics directly into the abscess was the best way. We used Ampicilin.

Since Thursday we have been cleaning and flushing the abscess daily and applying the antibiotics. The abscess is looking better but we have a long way to go.

Below are some pics. Some of them are blurry. I got my husband to take them. He was so grossed-out by poor Gumby he didn't even want to take the pics. Guys are such babies!

IMG_3176.jpg

IMG_3177.jpg

IMG_3178.jpg


Yesterday i noticed yet another abscess forming right underneath the drainage hole. Maybe when this one opens it will clear a really nice pathway and everything will heal for good. Fingers crossed.
 
These abscesses are so incredibly hard to deal with... trying just about anything is the way to go.
Can you have the infection cultured, the you would know which antibiotic to use.
I sure do hope this helps the poor boy. Sending him lots of healing vibes!
 
Woah I was not expecting that picture (I guess I should have considering what I was reading) How does an abcess start? With a cut or what?

By the way, sorry that your baby is going through this, its does not look fun
 
Hi Everyone,

Well, it seems like things are going from bad to worse.

We think the abscess began from an inner ear infection. This makes sense and would explain some weird behaviors Gumby has displayed since he was a baby. He never had a great sense of balance and he would always wave his head back and forth like Stevie Wonder when you picked him up.

The abscess is not healing and we continue to pull out gross, thick, cheesy pus. The hole is through his ear drum as well and continues to grow.

Another abscess developed last weekend behind the drain we put in. This has since opened and we continue to clean that out as well. The hole also seem connected to his ear, but from behind it.

He was on ampicilin for a few days; dripping it directly into the abscess.

I was thinking about getting the tissues cultured to see which antibiotic will be most effective, but i simply can't afford that on top of their daily visits and medication.

Today we took a different route: we removed the drain and after flushing it we packed it with sterile packing strips. We then soaked the packing strip in ampicilin. Hopefully this will absorb the pus and infection while keeping the antibiotics in there longer to work.

We have also started him on some oral antibiotics: clavamox. As well as some metacam for pain control.

The most distressing thing is that he is losing weight. He went from 0.7lbs to 0.6lbs in less than 2 weeks. He is also losing luster. He doesn't seem himself. This is what worries me the most.

We will give the antibiotics a few days to work. I will also start feeding him differently. Any ideas to get a sick rattie to eat and gain weight? I know this has been discussed on this list many times before.

If things doesn't start turning around i am not going to put him through much more of this, its not fair to him.
 
:sad3: I hope he gets better, sorry I don't have advice to help him gain weight. We're all thinking of him, and you for having to make the decisions for him :(
 
There was a member here with a rat that his abscess just wouldn't go away, for months and months until they packed with sugar... that was the only thing that helped. Maybe your vet might know about that treatment?
 
Well Gumby is just not acting like himself anymore.

He does not come out of the cube with everyone when i open the door - i have to reach in and get him. Sometimes he squeeks when i do this.

His eye that is on the same side as the abscess is also looking really weird - really dull and dried out. This is how Wembley's eye looked when he had the tumor in his ear.

He is losing his balance also and performing some weird behaviours. I took him out this morning to give him his meds and see if he would eat. He would run around frantically as if searching for something. He would go to the food bowl and scrape at the food, but not eat it. I put him back in the cage and he immediately went back into the cube and buried himself in the blankets.

I don't know what to do... He has had this abscess for over a month now and it only gets worse. He is not a happy boy any more. Do i continue on and hope for resolution? What if it continues to get worse and i am only making him suffer? He is only a year and such a wonderful boy. I don't want to give up on him but i don't want to make him suffer.
 
I am terribly sorry Tara, but I would have your boy pts at this point, you have gone above and beyond and this is something much more than a regular facial abscess...could be Zymbal's Gland, could be lots of things, but it's not getting better, he's not himself and you both have really TRIED. Do not think of yourself as giving up on him, but as having lost a fight you both battled. His little body couldn't fight anymore.

I think its time for one last gift of love for your wonderful brave boy. :heart:

I am soo soo sorry :sad3:
 

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