ratttgirl
New Member
Hello! I'm very worried about my female rat, Treasure. She came home yesterday from surgery for a mammary tumor removal (under one armpit); the surgery had been performed the previous day, and she spent the night at the vet after the surgery.
The vet told us Treasure had had some blood in her urine during her stay, so she performed an ultrasound of her urinary tract but saw no signs of infection. Treasure had some light blood in her urine the rest of that day, at home, but none today.
However, about an hour ago my husband and I noticed large chunks of dried blood in various parts of the cage, and a small amount of fresh blood right on Treasure's anus.
We called the vet's office, but the vets had left for the day, and the technicians instructed us to call first thing tomorrow morning.
Treasure is acting more or less -- not like she's ill (and I've been around many ill rats over the years). She's been seeking attention, as normal, bruxing on my lap in the evening, and begging for treats with her sisters (all normal behaviors for her). She seems to have a bit less energy, perhaps and is maybe acting very slightly more reclusive than normal, but she's definitely not acting like a noticeably ill rat. (And the energy and reclusiveness have been improving since she's been home, though sometime during that time she passed the blood through her stool.)
When doing a search online for blood in both urine and feces in animals (rats, specifically, but there was much more information on other species, like dogs, cats, and humans), I didn't find anything that seemed to link the two -- just references to one or the other.
Then a very troubling idea entered my mind: could accidentally being dropped or having a bad fall somehow at the vet's office (that the vet herself didn't know about, maybe) that affected the rear underside of her body have caused something like this?
Anyone with any experience with a situation like this? Any feedback/info/advice you could provide would be very much appreciated by both me and Treasure!
The vet told us Treasure had had some blood in her urine during her stay, so she performed an ultrasound of her urinary tract but saw no signs of infection. Treasure had some light blood in her urine the rest of that day, at home, but none today.
However, about an hour ago my husband and I noticed large chunks of dried blood in various parts of the cage, and a small amount of fresh blood right on Treasure's anus.
We called the vet's office, but the vets had left for the day, and the technicians instructed us to call first thing tomorrow morning.
Treasure is acting more or less -- not like she's ill (and I've been around many ill rats over the years). She's been seeking attention, as normal, bruxing on my lap in the evening, and begging for treats with her sisters (all normal behaviors for her). She seems to have a bit less energy, perhaps and is maybe acting very slightly more reclusive than normal, but she's definitely not acting like a noticeably ill rat. (And the energy and reclusiveness have been improving since she's been home, though sometime during that time she passed the blood through her stool.)
When doing a search online for blood in both urine and feces in animals (rats, specifically, but there was much more information on other species, like dogs, cats, and humans), I didn't find anything that seemed to link the two -- just references to one or the other.
Then a very troubling idea entered my mind: could accidentally being dropped or having a bad fall somehow at the vet's office (that the vet herself didn't know about, maybe) that affected the rear underside of her body have caused something like this?
Anyone with any experience with a situation like this? Any feedback/info/advice you could provide would be very much appreciated by both me and Treasure!
