Rat’s Eye is cloudy but not swollen? [UPDATED]

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Lefty

Active Member
Joined
Jul 6, 2020
Messages
27
Location
Bloomsburg PA
Hey, my rat Rufus was completely normal and then when I checked on him last night he had a cloudy squinted eye and was tearing up with perforin (the red stuff that looks like blood but isn’t). He was acting completely normal though other than that. I talked to my friend who went to vet school and she said to wait and see if it heals by Monday and if not to take him to the vet. I would have taken him yesterday or today but of course emergencies always happen on a holiday (4th of July) and are followed by Sunday when the vet isn’t even open, what luck. So today Rufus isn’t tearing up and is opening his eye normally quite a bit, but it’s still cloudy. I’m still calling the vet tomorrow about all this, but I decided to post here too just to hear what you guys think of it.
[UPDATE] just took him home from the vet, he got a scratch on his eye that turned into an ulcer. It sounds bad but honestly they said it’s an easy fix and not to worry. They gave me eyedrops and oral meds to give him twice a day and the whole visit (meds and all) was only $90. They said it’ll look gross and worse before it gets better but as long as I don’t see anything green/yellow (infection) he will regain sight and only have a tiny white scar. If it does get infected he will lose his eye, but if I follow the directions they gave me and keep his cage clean (which obviously I will) he should be fine.
 

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They can get cataracts that young but it's not common. A scratch is most likely with a nakie. Keep sniffing over his eye for any smell of foul infection but hopefully the oral antibiotics will prevent that (what did they send you home with?)
A couple of things to watch for is if the eye changes shape or shrinks. This could mean the scratch actually punctured the eyeball and the vitreous fluid will drain out and the eye will shrink and be useless. More than ever during this process you will need to give antibiotics. You also want to watch for any swelling of the eye as this could warrant another vet visit
 
They sent me home with tobramycin 0.3% opth. And also TMS Suspension (?)
He has a follow up on Wednesday with the vet.
Thank you for the help, I will definitely look out for those warning signs!
 
TMS is one of those antibiotics with a zillion names, Bactrim, Septra, TMZ, etc. It's a very good antibiotic for structural infections like this. :) Bad choice for respiratory but excellent for preventing infection in tissue.
 
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