My rats eye is injured I just need help

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Carmen2993

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Woke up this morning let my boy combo out of his cage to roam around the house like normal every morning. He is the only rat I got. Got him 2 months ago from pet store not sure how old he is but he's still in his adolescence age. Anyways I woke my son up then took my partner to work and when I came back my son said combos eye is bleeding. He has no idea what happened to him. I'm pretty sure it's not an infection because his eyes were fine a hour before I left him. I think he injured it somehow just don't know how. It's popped out of his head and has some bloody discharge around it. As of now he is laying down and has his other eye closed.
 

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Will he blink? Is it constantly bleeding?
When I had a rat with an eye injury, her eye got scratched by a piece of loose wire poking into the cage from her water bottle holder, so check for anything sharp in the cage. I went to the vet and was told that the damage was so bad that she would either lose the eye naturally, meaning it would shrivel up and die or fall out, or that she would have to have it surgically removed. I was given antibiotic ointment to give to her twice a day and the eye was lost naturally.

It’s also possible that it’s just porphyrin around his eye. This is something that all rats produce, but you will see it more around their eyes and noses when they are sick or stressed. If it’s not still bleeding and you wipe the eye and it’s an orangey colour rather than a bright red, it’s likely porphyrin and there is possibly some debris in his eye like bedding. Porphyrin also has an unpleasant smell, especially if there is something lodged in around his eye, and blood will just smell metallic.
 
No he can't close his eye. It's still puffed out. He keeps trying to scratch it and I stop him. I've been doing research all day and its not Porphyrin. It has no smell. I got him some eye drops and infant ibuprofen. He's chill but I'm guessing he will lose his eye. I don't have to $ to take him to the vet so I'm just doing everything I've learned to help ease his pain and try and keep the eye from getting infected. If you could point me in any direction that could further help him I would appreciate it so much.
 
If he’s not blinking, he’ll definitely lose the eye. Are they antibiotic eye drops? If they are, give them 2-3 times a day and they should help make sure the eye doesn’t get infected. It’s possible that the eye will fall out on its own, but you should also be prepared to take him to the vet if it doesn’t start shrinking on its own. Ibuprofen is good, Metacam is better if you have some on hand. Also try to trim his nails to keep him from scratching the eye and damaging it, that could cause an infection so keeping him from scratching is great.
At this point, you’re doing everything you can and all there is to do is wait. The eye will start to die off and a hard crusty film will form over the outer layer. This can be a little gross so be prepared for that.
 
He really needs a vet but in the meantime, try and keep his eye moist. Don't let it dry out. You can get buy stuff at the pharmacy for that, something like natural tears. I'd also try polysporin eye drops, the kind with some mild antibiotic in them.
 
So far my baby boy is doing good. He's acting so normal. Like he doesn't even care that his eye is fucked up. He shows no sign of pain. He trys to play with me and I'm like no bro your eye is falling out we can't play. I've tried to upload a recent photo but it keeps telling me the browser can't upload because of size... Thank you for your help I really appreciate it.
 
I had a hamster once whose eye fell out completely out of nowhere and it sounds pretty much the same as what’s happening to your guy. His eye just started bulging until it just pushed out of his head without shriveling or anything. I think it was a genetic defect because of how pet store hamsters are bred, so I would imagine that this might also be something that would happen to pet store rats.
 
If the eye is bulging out of the head (resize the pic so it's smaller to upload), then you might have a problem .But if he can close his eye it's best. The eye will shrink, and change shape, as the vitreous fluid drains out of it. Keeping it moist as Jorats said is important. See if you can find lubricating gel drops at your drugstore. The ibuprofen given every 4-6 hours should hopefully decrease the swelling. Keep sniffing that eye though.
 
This was two days ago. Today it looks about the same except a little dryer but still popped out. Still not showing any signs of discomfort. Been keeping it clean and try not to let it get to dry. I'll catch him scratching at it and yell at him. It looks as if his body is pushing his eye ball out. If I can get a pic of him I'll post a recent one.
 

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Gottem
 

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Oh and his eye has no smell. His eye looks like a hard shell thats starting to break from the base.. He still acts like nothing is wrong.
 
You probably should start on antibiotics to prevent infection but that's a dead eye. It's not going to shrink the same way. As I'm sure you are doing just do your best, keep watching and sniffing.
 
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