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oasisandbambi

oasisandbambi

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 6, 2018
Messages
48
Location
Portugal
Hey sorry I didn't know what to name this thread. One of my boys, who was castrated a long time ago, has two (?) Very little lumps on the side of his penis. He had an abscess there before so I was waiting it out thinking this may be another abscess but the little lumps never really grew in size. I showed them to my vet who told me that they were probably some skin or something related to his castration and nothing to worry about. Last week I found him with his penis stuck out, really red and the lumps seemed a bit swollen and seemed to be pushing his penis to the side. Cleaned it with warm water and was able to make it go in again using sugar water and started him on meloxicam. Second day it was stuck out again but not so swollen and I kept giving him the meloxicam. It's been a week or so now and the swelling has gone down and he's pp is never got stuck out again but I can still feel the lumps, even if they did swell down a little. His still on meloxicam, I'm not sure for how long should I keep administrating it. I feel like a week is already a long time ? But I am afraid to stop the antibiotic cuz I don't think the infection is cleared up yet. I want to take him to a vet but our city is in quarantine due to the virus, leaving the house is highly unadvisable. I don't want to be responsible for spreading anything to random people or my family who I am sharing a house with and I also don't want to catch anything because then I'm not sure who would be able to take care of my rats for a long period of time lol. The vet is two hours away and I have to catch the train. I don't know for how long the vet will stay open/ if it is still open, as many places are closing because of the virus. In case I can't take him in right now, I just wanted to ask for how long is it okay to administer meloxicam as it seems to be helping. And if there's anything else I can do from home or if it would be better to risk the vet trip. Thank you ! And sorry for any spelling mistakes or anything since english is not my first language
 
You can try sitz baths soaks to encourage the process along. Fill up a sink with a couple of inches of warm water then try to convince your boy to sit in it for a few minutes. Most times you can treat preputial gland abscesses like regular abscesses and they heal up. Once it's opened up, you can start flushing with isotonic saline (make your own with just salt and water) twice a day until it heals up near the surface. No ointments as that encourages surface healing.
 
lilspaz68 said:
You can try sitz baths soaks to encourage the process along. Fill up a sink with a couple of inches of warm water then try to convince your boy to sit in it for a few minutes. Most times you can treat preputial gland abscesses like regular abscesses and they heal up. Once it's opened up, you can start flushing with isotonic saline (make your own with just salt and water) twice a day until it heals up near the surface. No ointments as that encourages surface healing.
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Thank you for the information! Yesterday one of my other rats needed urgent teeth trimming so I made the vet trip with both of them. Turns out it was a small, hard mass that she removed !
 
oasisandbambi said:
Hey sorry I didn't know what to name this thread. One of my boys, who was castrated a long time ago, has two (?) Very little lumps on the side of his penis. He had an abscess there before so I was waiting it out thinking this may be another abscess but the little lumps never really grew in size. I showed them to my vet who told me that they were probably some skin or something related to his castration and nothing to worry about. Last week I found him with his penis stuck out, really red and the lumps seemed a bit swollen and seemed to be pushing his penis to the side. Cleaned it with warm water and was able to make it go in again using sugar water and started him on meloxicam. Second day it was stuck out again but not so swollen and I kept giving him the meloxicam. It's been a week or so now and the swelling has gone down and he's pp is never got stuck out again but I can still feel the lumps, even if they did swell down a little. His still on meloxicam, I'm not sure for how long should I keep administrating it. I feel like a week is already a long time ? But I am afraid to stop the antibiotic cuz I don't think the infection is cleared up yet. I want to take him to a vet but our city is in quarantine due to the virus, leaving the house is highly unadvisable. I don't want to be responsible for spreading anything to random people or my family who I am sharing a house with and I also don't want to catch anything because then I'm not sure who would be able to take care of my rats for a long period of time lol. The vet is two hours away and I have to catch the train. I don't know for how long the vet will stay open/ if it is still open, as many places are closing because of the virus. In case I can't take him in right now, I just wanted to ask for how long is it okay to administer meloxicam as it seems to be helping. And if there's anything else I can do from home or if it would be better to risk the vet trip. Thank you ! And sorry for any spelling mistakes or anything since english is not my first language
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Meloxicam is not an antibiotic, it is an anti inflammatory medicine.
 
oasisandbambi said:
Thank you for the information! Yesterday one of my other rats needed urgent teeth trimming so I made the vet trip with both of them. Turns out it was a small, hard mass that she removed !
Click to expand...
Hi Lilspaz68.... You know the end result of my adored hairless boy Gollum. $1600 in vet bills, 3 vet offices, dozens of visits, months of pain for both him AND ME! And in the end, well, releasing him from his pain was priority and I had to let him go. Was absolutely heartbreaking. RIP Gollum
 

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Tami1224 said:
Meloxicam is not an antibiotic, it is an anti inflammatory medicine.
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Have you tried to expel the pus out? You will need to be very care not to rupture it backwards in towards his body, so I would highly recommend a vet do it. Also, my experiences with these glandular abscesses was always positive until my most recent case. $1600 in vet bills before I had to PTS to relieve him of his immense pain. I used 3 highly recommended exotic vets who specialized in rodents, and I learned a lot. But the infection traveled downward and inward, and circled the shaft of his penis, making it very difficult to clean the exudate out from the deep, penetrating, tunneling, abscess. Every 3 weeks it grew in size to where it caused him considerable pain, which was when I had it cleaned out. Anyway, it was a few months of heartache and hope, but eventually ended sadly. So please take it seriously, see his vet ASAP. The Coronavirus won't be his problem, the Preputial Gland abscess will.
IMG_20191015_080553.jpg
 

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mwp051699 said:
Have you tried to expel the pus out? You will need to be very care not to rupture it backwards in towards his body, so I would highly recommend a vet do it. Also, my experiences with these glandular abscesses was always positive until my most recent case. $1600 in vet bills before I had to PTS to relieve him of his immense pain. I used 3 highly recommended exotic vets who specialized in rodents, and I learned a lot. But the infection traveled downward and inward, and circled the shaft of his penis, making it very difficult to clean the exudate out from the deep, penetrating, tunneling, abscess. Every 3 weeks it grew in size to where it caused him considerable pain, which was when I had it cleaned out. Anyway, it was a few months of heartache and hope, but eventually ended sadly. So please take it seriously, see his vet ASAP. The Coronavirus won't be his problem, the Preputial Gland abscess will.View attachment 13691
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Hi, thank you for your answer. I'm very sorry for your boy and everything you both had to go through. I already took my boy to the vet, the vet removed a small hard mass that was next to his penis. Apparently it wasn't an abscess.
 
oasisandbambi said:
Hi, thank you for your answer. I'm very sorry for your boy and everything you both had to go through. I already took my boy to the vet, the vet removed a small hard mass that was next to his penis. Apparently it wasn't an abscess.
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Hi again. Ok, um, you need to call your vet and ask him exactly what the mass was. I advise this because my boy Gollum's abscess was only in a fluid form for a short time. Every clean-out was of a hard, chunky, crumbling type of material. Pus can become solid and build up to become a big mass of nastiness in no time. So IF it was a, say, sebaceous cyst, you can breathe a big sigh of relief, but if it was hardened pus, well, get or keep him on substantial antibiotics and watch for any changes, notably another enlargement of the same area. I will keep positive thoughts for you.
 
mwp051699 said:
Hi again. Ok, um, you need to call your vet and ask him exactly what the mass was. I advise this because my boy Gollum's abscess was only in a fluid form for a short time. Every clean-out was of a hard, chunky, crumbling type of material. Pus can become solid and build up to become a big mass of nastiness in no time. So IF it was a, say, sebaceous cyst, you can breathe a big sigh of relief, but if it was hardened pus, well, get or keep him on substantial antibiotics and watch for any changes, notably another enlargement of the same area. I will keep positive thoughts for you.
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Whatever it was it came back and is starting to look like the photo you sent previously. I am really worried. I am not able to take him to my exotics vet. This is the only vet here that has good knowledge on how to treat rats. I cant take him in cuz it is located in another city and we cannot travel between cities so I can't catch the train there ( Because of lockdown ). I can call my vet and ask to be prescribed antibiotics but I can't take him to surgery or anything if he needs it and I'm really stressed :(
 
Can you contact your exotic vet and send video? Your vet may have some suggestions since previously it was a hard lump that your vet removed and not an abscess. However, treating for an abscess as you were told above might be a good idea because it may be an abscess this time.
http://ratguide.com/health/integumentary_skin/abscess.php
I sent lilspaz68 a message and hopefully she will soon respond
 
SQ said:
Can you contact your exotic vet and send video? Your vet may have some suggestions since previously it was a hard lump that your vet removed and not an abscess. However, treating for an abscess as you were told above might be a good idea because it may be an abscess this time.
http://ratguide.com/health/integumentary_skin/abscess.php
I sent lilspaz68 a message and hopefully she will soon respond
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Thank you. I am waiting for my vet to get back to me about my rat with PT. I will mention this to her then. I will be treating for an abscess and will update on it soon.
 

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