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Cigar

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 30, 2008
Messages
1,032
Location
Southern Ontario
I live in the Hamilton area. If anyone has extra Doxy or Baytril I would pay for it.

Puzzle is a few weeks shy of his first birthday. About 4 days ago a small lump appeared on the side of his mouth (the location is hard to explain). I had already experienced this with Remmy and it took a week for it to disappear. This morning I took him out to trim his upper teeth (he suffers from malocclusion) and the lump is now quite large, much larger than it was yesterday during playtime. I know he's not feeling well because his nose is stained and he seems cranky.

I'm going to begin a warm compress every few hours to bring it to a head if it is indeed an abscess. I have hope that it is because I've found a darker marking of sorts at the bottom of this big bubble. It isn't 100% firm to the touch, emanating excessive heat, or causing him to scream or gasp when I examine it. I've dealt with an abscess at home before but it was much smaller and in an easier place to deal with [lower back of his biological brother Osiris].

Can a rat be more prone to abscesses through genetic faults? If the salivary gland IS infected what kind of medication should I expect? On hand right now I have 2 kinds of human antibiotics: clindamycin [300mgs], which I don't think is safe for rats, and azithromycin monohydrate [250mgs] in tablet form. Could I dilute the tablet or crush it?

Thankyou.
 
I saw the azithromycin listed on the drug chart and I really want to use it but I'm so concerned about over-medicating him. I thought about just going for it and crushing the pill and taking a weeeee snippet of the powder and feed it with a treat. Mumsy has been thoughtful enough to send me a few doxy tablets to help me get this under control in the meantime. <33
 
I was up most of the night thinking about Puzzle and my stomach is so upset..

The lump has started to behave more like an abscess and it's starting to smell like one too. :sick2: He experienced very brief diarrhea last night around 8 as I came in to put the compress on. It could just be the stress of having this wet thing shoved on his face all the time. I moved him to a cat carrier with a warm shirt and towel, a few blocks, and plenty of fresh water over night. I observed him drinking and will be offering him some baby food. He already has maloclusion, so it's normal for his teeth not to be perfectly aligned, and thankfully I haven't noticed any extra misalignment.

My mom suggested using a black tea bag to help draw the infection to the surface. What do you think? She also suggested that in case of an emergency, we could take him to the dog/cat vet here in our town. I have the drug chart printed out and believe that the wife [it's a wife/husband practice] would be open to suggestion and working together.

I'm really lucky that my mom and stepdad are so understanding. Though they wouldn't personally own rats, they see what amazing pets they are and know that I think of them as children.. This in turn makes them grand parents. :wink2:
 
The tea bag trick might work too... I'd probably try it too.
All dog and cat vets can prescribe small animal meds so that chart would help them big time. :nod:
 
Necrotized tissue will become thick and black and it smells. But I've never had a rat with a gash have it happen. So that's really a minimal concern.
 
Hm.. the underside of the abscess is black. It doesn't seem thick though and I associate the smell with a typical abscess. Up until I read about necrotized tissue I figured the dark circle was the infection coming to a head. I'll just have to keep a good eye on it.

Thanks for being so helpful. <3
 
You are probably seeing the scab... if you can peel it off, you could squeeze the nastiness out of it and keep flushing it to keep it clean.
 
Yeah, I tried to peel it off last night and Puzzle became stressed and had projectile diarrhea. I haven't tried it again today yet. I'm going to give him some baby food, do the tea bag, and then try peeling it again.

My room is really starting to smell.. yuckkkk. My poor baby. ):
 
Well, I don't think it's ready to pop just yet. After the teabag I tried to peel it and the only thing I managed to do was upset him, even with my very sharp nails. It is however bleeding which means it's open somewhere and that's a good thing!

I bet it'll be open by Monday. Fingers crossed.
 
Cigar said:
Yeah, I tried to peel it off last night and Puzzle became stressed and had projectile diarrhea
Click to expand...

:shock: I couldnt help it........... I almost choked from laughing so much

Paddys scab was pure black just before i got the abscess to open. Now that its not got any gunk behind it, its a normal scab colour
 
ryelle said:
Cigar said:
Yeah, I tried to peel it off last night and Puzzle became stressed and had projectile diarrhea
Click to expand...

:shock: I couldnt help it........... I almost choked from laughing so much

Paddys scab was pure black just before i got the abscess to open. Now that its not got any gunk behind it, its a normal scab colour
Click to expand...

And then the tail started spinning like a helicopter.. Needless to say I had a shower after that episode. LOL
 
I held the compress on the abcess for a good 10 minutes. I found the hole where the blood was coming from and it was just on the edge of the scab. It was alot thinner and softer than the rest of the scab so I picked it back just a wee bit to give it some room to drain. Next thing I know, little stringy blood clots are coming out. There's currently a huge one threatening to pop out so I left it right alone. Are bloods clots normal?!

Before the compress
july180919.jpg

july180920.jpg


After the compress
july180924.jpg


It's really not clear, he was fighting me alot and my stepdad had to take the picture. The shiny red part is the big gob of blood that I'm talking about.

edit; Okay, taking a deeeep breath. I want to add that he ran to the front of his carrier and readily gobbled two yogies from me when I returned from posting. The blood isn't gushing, so I don't see a need to apply pressure, but I'm going to go grab something to give him a little extra iron. He's digging himself a nest in a tshirt right now as if nothing is happening.

My mom almost started to cry when she saw it. :sad3: Nobody likes to see their mom cry.
 
It's hard to tell from the picture but I think it's best you leave it alone and hopefully can see a vet about it.
That poor rat and poor you and your family. :(
 
Dont banana's have a lot of iron in them?

Id take him to see a vet, they may be able to help you drain the lump - give you some idea of what it is, and give you something to help fight off infection.

Poor baby :(
 
Definately do a vet visit. It might be an abcess but it could be a tumour. Mr Bigg had a massive facial tumour. Often as well, rats will have abcesses grow near the tumours, so one area will open and drain and the other part just grows or bleeds when punctured. My guy Buzz has one like that now. A large mass on his leg but part near his hip drained and is gone now. Tumours usually have a lot of blood vessels and if you were to pull something and open up a vessel your poor rat might bleed out. The vet can examine it, perhaps sedate and debride it more easily. And some take home abx to prevent infection, maybe a little metacam for pain and to reduce inflammation.
 

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