is there other reasons for clubbing other then PT??

[twitch]

chop suey has not been having an easy time of it. first with a sliding hernia and now i suspect he may have the beginnings of a PT, unless there is other reasons for clubbing his front left foot. he's been resting his food but i thought that was just because of the pain of the hernia operation and the hernia before that. he doesn't have that light feather feel to him though and other then the clubbing in the front foot there doesn't seem to be any other signs that i recognize for a PT. his eyes are both the same size, he feels like chop, there hasn't been a temperament change, no circling or head bobbing/butting. he is crawling rather then walking but again i don't how much of that is new symptoms and how much of that is the surgery. i just noticed the cliubbing today, maybe all of 20 minutes ago... he's on metacam for the operation pain, he had 0.15 this morning

so can someone tell me that the clubbing might not be PT that it could be something else that we can handle and manage and that he has a long life left to live yet? the poor man has been through so much, its not fair for it to be his time yet. he is supposed to be about 21-24 months though, so it would be the right age for a PT i guess. i just don't want it to be, i really don't want it to be. but what else causes clubbing?

 

[lilspaz68]

clubbing is more a neurological sign and is a classic with PT or stroke, but it could also be he is hurting especially if he is resting that foot. Clubbing usually means the little foot is bent over and they don't even notice to lift and straighten it out. If he's lifting it then its not that type of clubbing.

How is his pain?

 

[twitch]

he's not completely out of all pain, but i wouldn't say its real pain either, (mind you i do have him on metacam). rather more like a discomfort. he's tender to touch near his incision and he's careful in his crawl-walk but he will also keep food away from others trying to take it by quickly turning or hopping off. so he's sore, but i don't think he's in any real pain. i have enticed him with some goodies to watch him hold food and he's bracing the food on the ground rather then lifting it up. when he moves that clubbed foot stays clubbed unless it slips and his toes get stretched out that way. the incision is on by his back right foot, so i don't see why he would be resting his left front foot. but then again when i had my gallbladder out it was my shoulders that hurt instead of my belly... so i guess pain can migrate...

the vet says that he should be over the pain of the operation on tuesday by tomorrow night as it wasn't deep tissue that was infringed upon. is this true? chop suey seems to be the one worst off for pain after surgery then any of my rats that have had operations before, he's really taking it hard. what are other's opinions on pain after surgery? should it really only take a couple days for the pain of the surgery to be gone?

 

[lilspaz68]

How old is your sweet boy?

The older they are the longer it takes to heal and the more pain they seem to suffer.

 

[twitch]

supposedly around 21 months, he was one of the rat train rescue rats, but he has the older rat bonier back so i don't really know. i think he's probably older, maybe closer to 30ish months, maybe... so somewhere between near 2 and 2-1/2 years is about my best guesstimate.

 

[lilspaz68]

Could he be starting HED? (hind end degen)

 

[twitch]

hind end degen can affect the front feet?

i've never really encountered much of that. stew had it some but he died a couple weeks later. his front end seemed very strong though, just his back end had problems. but that's been my total experience with it. i just thought it made the back end weaker, hence the "hind end" in the title of the condition i guess...

 

[lilspaz68]

hind end degen can affect the front feet?

i've never really encountered much of that. stew had it some but he died a couple weeks later. his front end seemed very strong though, just his back end had problems. but that's been my total experience with it. i just thought it made the back end weaker, hence the "hind end" in the title of the condition i guess...

No sorry. I am dealing on another forum with something like this and got the 2 cases mixed up.

I think its the surgery that's causing this. Give him a few days.