Please help rat in pain.

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Bunny&Boofa

New Member
Joined
Jul 3, 2020
Messages
3
Location
Australia
Hey so I’m new to this forum I live in Australia where rats are a pretty uncommon pet (everyone thinks I’m mad for owning them) I’m feeling extremely guilty for not taking into account that a lot of vets aren’t qualified to care for rats here and the ones that are are very expensive. If anyone could take the time to read this I would be very very appreciative. Not even sure what I’m looking for maybe just a similar experience or someone to tell me my rat isn’t going to die? I’m pretty distraught.
When I was googling possible things that it could be Pyometra came up but there was no evident smell and when my boyfriend said he saw a droplet of something coming out of her vagina it could well have been urine but she kept cleaning the area before I could see anything and he’s colourblind so couldn’t tell me an accurate colour. I’m hoping she could have been in heat or something and my other rat just bit her vagina? I really don’t know

My rats are about 4 months old. Yesterday my rat Bunny spent a large amount of the day chasing her sister Boofa and getting her head all up in her vagina (this isn’t uncommon and they were just playing and seemed okay so I didn’t pay much mind to it) Then later on in the evening I could tell Boofa was getting distressed by it, not engaging just running away and then even started sqeeking which is when I jumped in and seperated them. Boofa came and fell asleep on me and was continuously licking her vagina and very tired but again I didn’t think anything of it she’d been running around. Then all of a sudden, while still licking the area started squealing in pain and when I tried to touch her or move her she would squeal. The squealing and excessive licking got more intense and louder and she was struggling to keep her eyes open. Going in between squealing in pain, excessive licking and falling asleep standing, falling over and just generally looking exhausted and in pain. It was about 1am (peak awake time for her usually) so I called the emergency animal hospital which was the only place open but they didn’t see rats. I found a place that did that opened at 8am and made a makeshift castle out of cardboard (so she could be seperated from bunny and get some unbothered sleep) for her to rest in and stayed up with her balling my eyes out till about 6am when I eventually passed out. When I woke up she seemed perfectly back to normal I woke her up, held her to check out the area which all looked regular and she was silent as opposed to last night when I couldn’t even touch her without her squealing. Then she ran around for a bit, ate some food and went back to sleep which is normal she usually sleeps all day. The only reason I haven’t taken her to the vet is because it’s going to be upwards of $400 and I am unemployed because of corona but obviously I’m keeping a close eye on her and if anything happens I’m going to sell my kidney or something. I’m not trying to be a monster not taking her I just don’t have a dollar to my name.
Thank you to anyone that took the time to read my freak out essay I’m sure someone knows how helpless I’m feeling right now.
 
it sounds like she was in heat and now she's not. They squeal and bounce and act very odd. Just keep an eye on her over the next day or 2 but it actually sounds pretty normal.
 
it sounds like she was in heat and now she's not. They squeal and bounce and act very odd. Just keep an eye on her over the next day or 2 but it actually sounds pretty normal.


Thank you so much for your response. I really do hope that’s the case. She’s been up and seems perfectly back to normal today but my friend contacted a vet she knows at the vet said it’s most probably a UTI. If it was would it continue to get worse is it normal that she seems fine today? I just don’t want to ignore it if it is and it turn into a bigger problem.
Thanks again 💕
 
a UTI is a urinary tract infection. You can check for that quite easily at home. Put her in a carrier or small cage on white paper towel and wait for her to pee. You would see pink staining in the urine. Foul or cloudy urine is also a possibility.
 
a UTI is a urinary tract infection. You can check for that quite easily at home. Put her in a carrier or small cage on white paper towel and wait for her to pee. You would see pink staining in the urine. Foul or cloudy urine is also a possibility.
You are a lifesaver thank you so so so much 💕
 
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