Possible abcess on the face?

Advertise with us
Fins us on Amazon
Shop with us on Ebay
The Rat Shack Forum

Help Support The Rat Shack Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
L

lindsayfawn

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 13, 2008
Messages
5,276
Location
Moncton, NB
How do you tell if something is an abcess or not? Willow has two scabs on her cheek and we just noticed today that it looks puffed out. When I touch it it feels hard. She hasn't been doing well lately she's lost weight and she's having a hard time moving more then she usually does.
We put a warm cloth to her face where the scab is but I couldn't see anything that would look like a hole for an abcess. Any ideas?
 
If it is an abcess, the scab is the hole. You'll have your answer if the scab comes off. Can you do a few more soaks?

Have you checked her teeth to make sure they are not overgrown into her jaw?
 
Her teeth aren't overgrown in her jaw however her bottom teeth seemed miss alligned with the top they go slightly more to the right. Could it be because of swelling in her cheek that would 'cause this? I'll try the warm cloth again and see what happens.
 
If it's a typical bite abscess like it could be with two scabs instead of one, then Baytril should be fine. But if it's due to the teeth, you'll need something very very strong.
Lately, we've been seeing sarcoma of the sinuses/jaw bone... which does look and smell like an abscess as well if it gets infected. But I would treat it as your run of the mill abscess for now.
Take a good sniff, does it smell like an abscess? Also, smell inside her mouth if you can.
 
One of the scabs on her face came off but there's still nothing coming out of the hole where the scab was. The lump feels really hard and looks like it moved down more. We're calling the vet in the morning...we can feel lumps in her tummy and she's lost a lot of weight. She's always been kinda bloated ever since we got her and she's never been able to jump or climb really well. She's having an even harder time moving now and has pretty well stoped eating.
Her breathing is kinda quick and hard and Ang said she had noticed her sides looked sunken in today a few times. Hopefully Dr.Dunnett will be able to tell us somehting good but I can't see it being good....her tummy feels exactly how Gloria's did will all the internal tumors.

Her mouth has no smell at all...so I'm wondering if this lump is something else? poor old girl
 
Isnt it dreadful when you notice one thing, that gets you slightly worried, and then that one thing makes you look a bit deeper, and then you notice everything else :( Animals are too good at hiding sickness.

Good luck at the vets. Keep us updated
 
We're taking Willow in at 3 today. Hopefully Dr.Dunnett can tell us something good but I really dont have much hope. Willow's tummy feels just to much like Gloria did. The only reason we can feel these stupid lumps now is because where she had lost the weight. She was always so bloated before we just could never get a good feel. She's always been that different rat and I always wondered what had happened to her before that made her like she is.

We'll let you know how it goes. Thanks for all the quick replies and all the help. You guys are all so great! :hugs:
 
Well Dr.Dunett was able to drain the abcess a little. She said there's an obvious infection but there is also something else in there. She's going to call us with the results. She thinks though the way this little ball thing looked like in with the abcess could be cancer. She has definate large tumors in her tummy :( So we're giving her baytril to help with the infection and have to keep trying to drain it. keep her comfortable I guess till she's had enough.
We're not going to operate on the tummors in her tummy because she's and older girl and has gone through enough already that she doesn't need to go through the pain of surgery.
 
Yup, give her the antibiotics and let them fix what they can, hopefully she can have some suffer-free time before the tumors get to be too draining. If it's cancer on both on her face and in her tummy then it wouldn't be right to have her spend her last good days feeling like crap recuperating from any surgeries.
Better to have her spoiled and enjoying love & good food and environmental stimulatiion at home til she can't. Really live til she dies.
I guess this is the part where you put on a smile for her and put extra efforts into making life great for her and one day you look back and you realize how much joy & sweet memories you got during that extra effort (you already know this from your many kids) that you might have missed otherwise. And you wouldn't miss a minute, would you?
 

Latest posts

Back
Top