Lump on Oracle's jaw, suspected abscess? not sure

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YokaiRatRAR

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A big wibbly wobbly lump right on Oracle's jaw. I didn't realize it, its firm, moves around under the skin if you push from the side but squishes if you push from the top. I don't have a working camera.

But i found an image that looks nearly identical to what Oracle's got on her cheek, labeled "rat abscess."

All the vets in my area don't have payment plans. I don't have a credit card or a good credit score to get one. I'm taking her to see the humane society tomorrow if I can't find someone who'll offer an alternative. They have a petfood pantry, surely they have someone who can advocate for a disabled pet owner who's freaking out over her darling dear being sick.

There has to be some kind of home remedy. Abscesses are bacterial infections right? The thing is all the remedies I know for skin infections, cuts, scrapes, ect, are all for humans. I know use baking soda and water for poison ivy, and that a teaspoon of baking soda in 8 oz water will cure heartburn. I know cinnamon made into a paste will clean a cut, that peroxide will sterilize things but can cause burns and that lemon juice will relieve aforementioned discomfort. I know ginger reduces swelling "from your kisser to your butt, and in the elbows neck and knees." That sunlight can help improve the effects of an anti depressant and that iodine is in salt because Americans won't eat seaweed to get it. I know a quarter teaspoon of nutmeg in your morning coffee helps reduce gingivitis and ginger ale soothes throat pain caused by asthma.

But none of this, not a one, is applicable to rats. All to humans. I'm stuck. Any one of the usual remedies I'd go for could either cause Oracle to become immensely ill or kill her.

Meanwhile calling my dad for advice and comfort yielded a dose of reality instead that sent my anxiety issues into a tailspin, if the Humane society can't help me and she doesn't recover on her own she may have to be put down and I don't want that!

Then there's the guilt trip. You see Oracle, when I bought her at the petshop, was pregnant. Finn and feather, where I got her refuses to seperate by gender because some of the baby rats go to feed their snakes. Their mice don't breed as readily as their rats do, I hear. They've actually bred a female rex with a missing eye before. And another rat, one I rescue bought from there because he had open sores on his wrists, is currently occupying my rest cage.

Two weeks into the litter's life, Oracle stopped feeding them. All i had on hand to try them with was condensed milk mixed with water. I sang the last one to his final sleep. Oracle has been 'depressed' ever since. Or at least thats how I interpreted her lethargy. "oh its hormonal, by rat standards she's achieved her life's purpose by having a litter so she's not as vigorous" or "that Fin and feather, its trauma I bet you. I'd lay money on it. Look where they house their litters, the /reptile/ room." After all, you can't diagnose a bad mood, not in an animal who can't tell you why they're constantly tired and listless. What would the vet say if I brought her in "oh she's just depressed, sorry there's no prozac for rats, feed her this that costs 20 bucks a month blah blah blah."

But now I have /something./ And I swear if this was going on the entire year and a half I've had her as a pet I'm going to be on the WAR PATH against the Fin and Feather. Some public shaming is in order. The little male I'm trying to rehome, Petey? You know why I bought him when I knew I couldn't keep him? Because the clerk at Fin and feather wouldn't put him in the quarantine tank not a food below his cage when he had open sores on his wrists. They don't care one lick about their rats and if Oracle's sickness is a result of that and went on for a year without being detected I won't rest until some public shaming has been done!
 
For a normal abscess you would use warm water compress to bring it to a head and it will open and release the pus inside. But if it's a tooth abscess, the rat will really need antibiotics from a vet.
I'm sorry if this will send your anxiety soaring but your dad is absolutely right, you shouldn't take on any pet unless you can afford the vet. She'll need at the very least enrofloxacin/Baytril to help with any infection. But first do try the warm compresses, three times a day or more.
 
If it is a tooth abscess she will need vet care. We had a suspected tooth abscess but it turned out to be a tumor on our girl. There is nothing that can work with a tooth abscess an abscess anywhere else you could treat yourself but abscess in that area require vet care.
 
Thank you, and the problem is that if i take my other critters to the vet one at a time the cost is managable. I can manage as high as 75$ a mo thats what my petfood storage plan is for, to help weather expenses associated with more detailed costs. If i can get enough of a surplus of supplies to last a month or two without going to the petstore thats 60 to 100$ over the course of both months that i have available to put towards vet costs.

*sighs* i'm gonna have to talk to my bank about a specialized savings plan for vet expenses, they do do one but typically their customers do them for xmas gifts, and start putting money away in grocery gift cards. Thats how I got my guinea pig her midwest habitat C and C cage.

Ah well, if i have to press the old guinea pig cage into service as a rest cage and donate the tank once Petey is rehomed the landlord will get an impromptu wheat field and very, very rich soil (possibly from composted rat droppings) in a patch of his yard. I was /trying/ to make a cage tray with grass for general critter hanging out in.

Ty about the compresses, that means I can get my allergy shot today and wait to see what the humane society says. I found out how to get myself down there with a minimum of strain on my back.

Edit: first compress applied and oracle struggled like the dickens. /trying/ to get her to realize nothing bad will happen. you have no idea how many times I struggled to get her to let me clean her paws or bathe her in the past. Her and her pushy alpha sister both. *fusses over Oracle* gonna have to improvise a rest cage. I wanted to make one with grass in the bottom but thats not sterile and i don't want to have to dump that wheat grass out now that its growing pretty tall.
 
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Ok here are some questions for you.

1) How old is Oracle?

2) have you looked at her teeth to see if they are aligned?

These are normal teeth, even all the way across, the pic doesn't show it well but the bottom incisors were also even.

Zoeysteethsep27.jpg~original


These are the same rat with a normal spay to her bottom teeth...the jaw at the front is connected by a ligament, and once she stopped squirming her teeth went back together.

Mattiesnormalsplayedteeth.jpg~original


These are misaligned or maloccluded teeth, they don't grow evenly and the surfaces cannot grind down normally, causing these crazy uneven growing patterns, etc

Angelsteethnov25.jpg~original


3) is the lump on her jaw right under her ear?

May28Dustyslump.jpg~original


Or is it lower down on her jawline like Bronny's was?

Bronwensfacemar5.jpg~original


4) You said it was soft and squishy? Like a fatty feeling and you can move it around?

5) Are you able to take pics or post a video of Oracle for us?
 
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edit: oh and it looked like number 3. the thing is... its hard to see bone outlines on a rat. but yeah no 3 is exactly what it looked like. it looked to me like right where the jawbone met the skull under the ear. but the lighting in my bedroom is not the best this time of year. Tree in the way of the best sunshine and i've only got lamps that aren't always bright enough.

aaaaaaaaand, the abcess burst middle of the night last night. didn't discover it till the next morning but there's no way that wasn't the commotion i heard after I went to bed. V.V;;; and it was hanging open. but cleaning it with hot water and tea tree oil (and pressing the wound shut while i cleaned it) got the hole to close up so that it looks more like a slice then a great honking hole with the skin lose and... urggggg... i love rats... that open hole in oracle's jaw damn near made me throw up my oatmeal and coffee.

and sadly, i have no camera, i put mine through the wash. V.V;;;;; a nikon digital... a christmas gift, and it had personal pet photos on it when i did so too, including pictures of two ferrets i had to give up (don't get me started on them, I cried so hard even though I knew i was doing the right thing). ;.; i'm such an air head. Now the only picture i have of the girls now is from when i first got them. Back when all i knew was about wild rats. :3.

Anywho, I feel a bit better and more confident now that I know she's gonna recover. A beloved little friend like that being sick is just eeek... not to mention her abscess corrosponded with my getting a cold. Sick pet /and/ being sick yourself? not fun.
 
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You do not want it to close up. Abscesses need to heal from the inside out.
If they close up it will trap the bacteria inside and will not heal.
It will need to be flushed several times a day
I hope you are very very lucky and it is just a simple abscess that will heal without antibiotics


IF it is just a surface abscess .... normally we flush out an abscess with saline or diluted betadine, etc. At least twice a day. I prefer saline is it flushes and dries out the cavity, breaks down any cheesy pus inside and helps get it out. You do NOT put any ointment on it as it encourages healing, in this case the surface will heal over the cavity trapping any bacteria inside so the abscess recurs. We tell people to just flush, until the bottom of the abscess has healed up near the surface then you can let it scab over and heal properly.
(btw, rats do not need to be bathed, like cats they bath themselves)
Good that you are going to set up a vet fund because rats become ill and die fast so need immediate vet care and medication.
Also, most vets etc do not know how to humanely put a rat to sleep (see the reference section for how to make sure it is done)
 
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Is neosporin safe for rats? i used tea tree oil as an antiseptic because I wasn't sure. *points to wikipedia* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_tree_oil

Tea tree is used in a number of small animal shampoos including guinea pig and ferret (and those ferrets man they sensitive man) that said, the smell drove Oracle crazy. I swear, she couldn't use her sense of smell to direction find afterwards. I try really hard to stimulate my rats senses of smell and hearing because I know those are way above my level. They once tried to chew an empty vial that once held eucalyptus oil (probably trying to get in and see what was inside) but they really responded to the odor. ("Hmmm, what's this ma? Why you spraying it on the carpet?") and seem to try to home in on it when they get the chance.

That said, tea tree, small animal shampoo, antiseptic and skin treatment for dandruff, lice, ect.

Anywho, neosporin, I have two or three tubes in my first aid kit and if its safe i can use that. I have peroxide but i don't fancy messing around with dilutions, not after experiencing a peroxide burn myself.

Also since it closed up and should be open how can i minimize the chances of a repeat infection?
 
No, you do not want to put anything on an abscess. Besides they will lick it off and ingest it. No, its not safe. You need to leave it open and keep flushing it. If its directly under the ear you might be dealing with a ZGT and not an abscess.
 
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