Broken leg? *UPDATE 12/12/13: Still Swollen

[1095732]

This morning I found Rosie with a swollen leg and walking on 3 legs. Yesterday morning was the last time I had her out and I didn't notice it, but it's possible I missed it because I wasn't really looking.

She is walking on 3 legs and sometimes putting a bit of pressure on the swollen leg by walking on her toes. When she sits on her back feet she keeps the swollen leg up and either balances on one foot or holds onto something with a front foot.

On the bottom of the foot she has a tear in the skin and what looks to be yellow puss. I'm not familiar with infections really, in rats, so I could be wrong. Could be a broken bone.

The leg is hard to touch and she squeaks when I touch it. She also has a swollen tail near the base. Lola previously bit her there. I gave her infant advil and the baytril she was already on. She took both like a champ, licking every last drop off the plate without it being mixed with anything. She is otherwise normal, eating, drinking, running around, bruxing, tries climbing.

 

[BlueSkyy]

Owwie... That yellow bit by her heel definitely has me worried. I've had rats get sprains before, and their feet look just like that (minus the owwie bit) and they heal fine in a week or so. But that yellow... could it be a bumble or a scab? If it's a bone I think she'd refuse to let you be anywhere near it and wouldn't put any weight on that foot at all.

 

[Joanne]

Ow, ow, ow!
So her tail is infected, and her leg may be infected too. You need to determine if that spot on her heel is bone, or just infection draining. Since she is on antibiotics and still has the infection, the bacteria are resistant to that antibiotic (Baytril?). Anyway, she needs a different antibiotic, perhaps Clavamox instead. I would take her to the vet's because if that is an open fracture in her foot, she should have more intensive treatment to help promote healing and prevent infection of the bone. It is possible that the injury that caused the tail infection is causing an infection in her leg, and that there is no break...
Good luck!

 

[RattusNorvegicus]

When was she bitten by Lola? I agree that both her tail and foot looks infected and she needs antibiotics fast! Poor poor girl.

 

[1095732]

Lola bit her around November 25-26. The wound was healing fine so I let it be.

I put her on Baytril yesterday I believe, the day before I noticed the swollen leg because I could hear a URI. So they may not have started helping yet. I will call the vet in the morning and see when I can get her in. Is there anything I can do for her in the meantime? I've been giving her advil, the swelling hasn't gone down though. Is there a way to tell if it's puss or bone?

 

[dspch911]

:heart: Aw poor thing - healing vibes to her :heart:

 

[lilspaz68]

You can hope the swelling of the foot is a sprain, but keep up with the baytril and ibuprofen (every 4-6 hours) since the swelling can be dangerous. Can you smell her foot for an infected smell? It looks more like a wound than a break but a sprain could explain the sudden swelling. The wound on her tail, is the tissue swollen around it as well?

 

[1095732]

I'm keeping up with the meds. The swelling seems to be a bit less and she is occasionally walking on it. I smelled it but couldn't smell anything with the foot or tail. The tissue is swollen around the tail. The wound on her tail doesn't seem to be infected or smell.

 

[Joanne]

Oh, I thought she had been on the Baytril for a while. I'm glad she just started; it may work after all. That's good news that she is starting to bear weight on her foot. I hope she's on the mend.

 

[1095732]

Rosie's leg is still swollen and she doesn't walk on it 90% of the time. We went to the vet and found out the leg wasn't broken but she had infection, in the open wound. She was switched from baytril to a different biotic (can't remember which for the life of me and I took the label off) because she was still very swollen. She's still on ibuprofen and we never miss a dose. And the swelling persists. The open wound has completely healed. She is otherwise still fine though, and more active than any of the others. Any ideas what's going on with her leg?

Wound healed up nicely.

Here's a video, not great though.

 

[dspch911]

Poor baby, hope she feels better soon. :cuddle:

 

[1095732]

I really want to figure out what's going on with her. Should I move her into a smaller cage or something she can't climb in? She still gets in her hammocks and climbs the bars (always with 3 legs). Notice at the beginning of the video how her leg goes underneath her. And twists? That happens a lot. Could it be some other sort of issue?

 

[Joanne]

You have to step back and look at the facts:
As far as I can tell, you started her on Baytril 10 days ago. Then she was switched to another antibiotic. Skin heals incredibly quickly on rats. But she also has an infection in her bone - she really has not been on medication very long yet. I would assume she would need the antibiotics for at least one month, if not five to six weeks, to clear it up. I would continue the antibiotics and the pain meds for at least another month. She needs time to heal. It hurts to walk on. As things continue to improve, she will use it more and more.

 

[jorats]

I agree with Joanne, she needs longer on abs to heal the infection.

 

[mamarat]

Poor baby, sending healing vibes.

 

[1095732]

Okay, good to know. This is my first swollen leg so I wasn't sure if it should be better by now or not.

 

[LA]

Hi All,

Shelagh linked me to this thread. I am surprised no one noticed that from Dec 2 to Dec 12 the leg/foot in question has changed. Dec 2nd was the left foot and right on Dec 12. So we have two different situations here. Problem one has cleared up YAY!!!! that's awesome! The foot looks great. How is the right foot now? She looks like a sweetheart!

LA

 

[1095732]

It was actually the same leg. The first video was taken on my laptop, which reverses everything.

 

[LA]

Ahhh ok, sorry about that. It looks as if the infection and sore is gone, which is nice. Not sure about the swelling.