Injured Ratties (Pictures might make you cringe)

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RatPack

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 5, 2014
Messages
1,503
Location
WV, USA
Wasn't sure how to title this exactly but here is the story.. I was contacted last night about some rats in bad conditions and was asked if I could take them if the lady went and got them and since I had the space and she agreed to provide food for them I agreed. Today as we were setting up arrangements to have them transported here as they are in the middle of nowhere WV, she sent me some pictures. Some have hair loss which is clear and 2 have lacerations but the one guy I am most concerned about has had what looks like his whole eyelid removed and I am pretty sure he is gonna need to lose his eye which I can not afford right now but I would like to know what I can do to try to keep him comfortable until we can get the funds or find another rescue to take him and treat him. I have amoxi on hand and wound wash my vet gave me which I don't think I should use on his little eye. It is Chlorhexidine 0.2% solution and can I use that on the other guys arm? Is saline safe for big guys eye?
 
Those poor poor babies :( It makes me ill and sad that our lovely rats can be treated this badly. I've seen this ****e before so the wounds don't shock me and might not be quite as bad as you think.

For the infected injury on the ones's leg or side (hard to tell from pics), start on amoxi for sure, and use the chlorhexidine diluted on that wound or you can use regular isotonic saline (make up yourself). And flush it at least twice a day. It looks like a bite injury and hopefully will clear up in time and heal. If it continues to spread then you might need to take to vet for debridement of dead tissue and closure. I have a pic of a boy who had a similar injury (I think).

Gilbertswoundjun6.jpg~original


As for the eye injury, as your pics aren't very clear it looks like the majority of the wound is above the eye. These heal pretty well but might pull the lid out of alignment. The eye looks icky but not dangerous yet. I would flush that wound with natural tears eye drops from the drugstore, and it will keep that eye moist. You might want to get him on Metacam or infant liquid ibuprofen at 20 mg/kg just to keep down any possible swelling and just plain make it feel better. The eye may be scratched and reacting to that. It may also be punctured and you have to keep it from swelling out and prevent infection with the amoxi. These eyes either swell out quickly and need an enucleation or change shape as the fluid drains from inside the eyeball, and finally shrinks to a bit of tissue.

here's the wound above the eye

Lottieeyeapr27.jpg~original
 
Ok I will do my best to get these guys back to tip top shape.. I already flushed the guy side wound but was waiting on the eye guy for info but definitely gonna start them on amoxi and one of the boys is a girl! Fun times....
 
Ok I will do my best to get these guys back to tip top shape.. I already flushed the guy side wound but was waiting on the eye guy for info but definitely gonna start them on amoxi and one of the boys is a girl! Fun times....

lets hope their condition is just bad enough the little girl couldn't maintain a pregnancy. Watch her like a hawk for 4-5 days to see if she goes into heat. Even flip her over to look at her vagina every evening. My girls and boys in a different situation (just as skinny but less injuries) were mixed but none were pregnant...so fingers crossed!
 
I got the eye drops for pop eye (his now name) and rinsed audi's shoulder wounds but the issue is they don't trust me so they don't want to take anything I offer but cheerios so the amoxi is still being figured out how to get them to take it.
 
This group is turning out to be fun... So Audi's shoulder wound is looking nice and pink so no more infection but I think it is gonna have trouble closing though we will wait and see. Popeye's eye is also looking good and he blinked it today and freaked my daughter out haha so I haven't done eye drops yet since it doesn't look dry anymore but it is clouded. Blues ear is being a pain and is infected but I can't get him to let me soak it long enough to get all the scabbing off to clean the tissue underneath. Last night Zeus and Schnitzel got into it and by last night I mean about 4:30 this morning and when I got into the cage to break them up the big naked (Zeus was covered in mostly minor scraps but a couple of deep bites that I attempted to get cleaned and Schnitzel got his lip ripped and it is actually kinda a flap now and took me a bit to get the bleeding stopped and he refused pain meds which didn't surprise me. I got a friend to help me treat them all with revolution cause they are clearly itchy but other than that we still are having 0 luck with oral meds and I am covered in scratches..Looks like I got into a fight with a lion! They are all peacefully back together right now and my friend was nice enough to bring me a CN addon so I have a cage to use as a time out now and she even offered to faster a few of the none injured boys for me once we are sure that the revolution has killed any critter cause she has two spayed girls. That is it for now I think and I am really gonna do my best to get atleast popeye and blue to the vet asap. This picture of Blue's ear is from two days ago and it has more scabbing now and more dried yellow but it doesn't smell bad which is weird and I am scared it will cause damage to his inner ear.
 
Wound updates! I have also been in contact with the rat rescue in Cincinatti.OH and I haven't heard back from her on how many she wants to take but I am pretty sure all the injured guys are going. I did some before and after pictures even though original pictures are on this thread..Blue's ear is being such a pain but some of the scabbing has broken away today.
 
We are all healed now but a couple of scabs and bald spots :) Because we are healed that means they wont be going to the rescue in cinci and neither will Daisy (their sister) I hope she isn't preggo but she get bigger everyday.
 
I definitely do but luckily I got a friend to foster the 3 naked boys and since they don't need a vet now I can use that money to buy more rat food so we don't go hungry and fleece cause they are fleece eaters! :)
 
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