How to deal with a rat wearing a cone?

[Mandon]

Momo just came back from surgery, but she was fussing at her sutures so they had to put a cone over her head. It's really upsetting because she's constantly trying to get it off and she's clearly not happy at all.

Will she get used to it? How do I feed her? etc etc. Vet said I should either hand feed her or take it off to feed her while supervising her and making sure she doesn't go at her suture..

 

[Mandon]

Aaaand I took it off because I thought she wanted to eat, she instantly went at her sutures and now I can't get it back on. They put surgical staples on the suture after she started chewing. Is it possible to just not have the cone on her without her wrecking the suture?

 

[AboutPetRats]

One of my favorite ways to keep rats from getting at their sutures is to be with them 24/7 until there is no longer any danger of self-inflicted injury. To some, this may sound extreme, but it sure does work!

For example, after one of my rats (Vera) was spayed I tucked her inside my shirt where she slept and rested. Anytime she'd start to nibble at her sutures or at her incision site, I'd distract Vera with food or by petting her. I continuously made sure she kept her mouth, hands and feet away from any area where she could injure herself. The first night after her surgery I slept on a couch with her inside my shirt so I'd awaken if Vera started to move around a lot and start chewing or scratching at herself.

I personally haven't seen a rat ever get used to wearing a cone. I've only seen them become resigned and rather depressed while wearing a cone. Besides cones, there are cervical collars and you can make a sweater out of a sock.

If you're unable to personally monitor Momo 24/7 for the first day or so, then I guess wearing the cone is still better than having her tear out her sutures and cause injury to her incision site. Thank goodness rats generally heal very quickly!

 

[Mandon]

One of my favorite ways to keep rats from getting at their sutures is to be with them 24/7 until there is no longer any danger of self-inflicted injury. To some, this may sound extreme, but it sure does work!

For example, after one of my rats (Vera) was spayed I tucked her inside my shirt where she slept and rested. Anytime she'd start to nibble at her sutures or at her incision site, I'd distract Vera with food or by petting her. I continuously made sure she kept her mouth, hands and feet away from any area where she could injure herself. The first night after her surgery I slept on a couch with her inside my shirt so I'd awaken if Vera started to move around a lot and start chewing or scratching at herself.

I personally haven't seen a rat ever get used to wearing a cone. I've only seen them become resigned and rather depressed while wearing a cone. Besides cones, there are cervical collars and you can make a sweater out of a sock.

If you're unable to personally monitor Momo 24/7 for the first day or so, then I guess wearing the cone is still better than having her tear out her sutures and cause injury to her incision site. Thank goodness rats generally heal very quickly!

Well I can watch her most of the day, give or take - including when I have to sleep.. but I'm not so sure the cone is going to work out. I can't for the life of me put it on her, and it's so sad watching her struggle... it feels like I'm harming her, at least in her mind.

 

[SQ]

I have found that if rats are getting enough pain medication they do not bother their incisions
My vet also finds that surgical glue helps keep incisions closed
Although once the incision has pretty much healed, they often remove the stitches themselves

You need to discuss pain management with your vet
She should have been given an injection of medacam after surgery that would control pain for 24 hours
You need to check and see that this was done
What pain medication were you given for the next 4 or 5 days?

Cones really aren't used on rats .... they hate then, it stresses them, and they need to be able to eat and drink whenever they need to
Usually after rats recover from anesthetic they are put back in with their friends. This reduces their stress, etc
I am sure that her friends will help her remove the cone

 

[Mandon]

I have found that if rats are getting enough pain medication they do not bother their incisions
My vet also finds that surgical glue helps keep incisions closed
Although once the incision has pretty much healed, they often remove the stitches themselves

You need to discuss pain management with your vet
She should have been given an injection of medacam after surgery that would control pain for 24 hours
You need to check and see that this was done
What pain medication were you given for the next 4 or 5 days?

Cones really aren't used on rats .... they hate then, it stresses them, and they need to be able to eat and drink whenever they need to
Usually after rats recover from anesthetic they are put back in with their friends. This reduces their stress, etc
I am sure that her friends will help her remove the cone

I'll just keep the cone off then. She was given 4 days' worth of metacam to be administered orally. I believe the dosage she got today was correct... the vets couldn't figure out why she was fussing at the incision, but they theorized that it might be because she was already used to fussing at that area due to the sore.

 

[Joanne]

I too agree that if they have enough pain medication on board, most will leave their incision alone. The other reason they mess with it is that they are having a reaction to any internal sutures.
One of my girls kept chewing one particular incision open (she had three spots). We had a bugger of a time, and at one point the vet decided to use staples. Well, have you ever seen a rat with their face stapled to their side? Not pretty!!!! She did it a second time not five minutes after being unstuck. This was at home, at night. If I hadn't have had small jewellery pliers, I don't know how I would have gotten her lip unstuck from the staple in her side. I was able to remove the staple because it got stretched out. So just be aware that if she is really chewing at it, crazy things could happen.
You could try putting a sock on her. Cut the toe off for her head, and a couple of holes for her arms. It needs to be quite snug.

 

[Claireybell2477]

My Dina was given a cone after her mammory tumor removal. I took it off straight away. The vet gave us a little sock for her body instead. Worked wonders. It was such a relief knowing I could go to bed/work in the knowledge that she wasn't able to chew her stitches.

make sure it's nice and tight but obviously not too tight that it makes her uncomfortable. I hope she gets well soon!

 

[lilspaz68]

Give us the dose of metacam you are supposed to give (her weight and if you have 1.5 mg/ml or 0.5 mg/ml metacam)?

I would advise a baby sock or children's sock (depending on how big she is). I have pics of it on my rats...

 

[Joanne]

OMG Lilspaz, that is just adorable!

 

[Mandon]

Give us the dose of metacam you are supposed to give (her weight and if you have 1.5 mg/ml or 0.5 mg/ml metacam)?

It says 0.3ml. The doctor gave it to me in four separate syringes.

Momo's already pulled a couple of her staples out, but the wound seems to be closing now, so I'm not 'too' worried

That being said, I've tried to put Momo in a sock already with no luck. She's a squirmer and I'm not sure how to get her in it. Maybe the sock was too loose.

 

[onyx]

Great idea. And omg so cute

 

[Claireybell2477]

Try another sock, it's for her own good bless her!

 

[dspch911]

Cones really suck,but we've managed with a couple of boys. We take them off when we're home and are watching them. Like mentioned, if adequately pain managed they usually leave the site alone. Streaker got a cone and sock. With Peanut we made a large pen on the floor for him out of foam play tiles for floor and chloroplast sheets for the walls. Don't know why the pics are upside down.

 

[SQ]

rarely, metacam isn't enough for the pain .... lilspaz68 can also give you info on what else to give if that ends up being the problem

 

[dspch911]

rarely, metacam isn't enough for the pain .... lilspaz68 can also give you info on what else to give in case this is the case

We give metacam and tramadol

 

[Mandon]

It's been three days and the wound is closed up to an extent already. I don't think Momo chewing at her sutures is going to really matter at this point.

But I'm not sure if it was the metacam that was helping her leave it alone to this extent or not.... I messed up one of the doses today and spilled it all over myself because she wouldn't sit still.