Rat gnawing on stitches

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Nyn

Nyn

Supporting Member
Supporting Member
Joined
Aug 18, 2020
Messages
111
Location
Netherlands
Hey,

Do you guys have any tips for rats gnawing at their stitches? I've tried a swaddle of bandages, a sock, just normal bandaged and distraction but all things they get off really easily and they won't stop licking and biting them. They were neutered today and they have already received pain meds. (I will give them more tomorrow)..

Thank you!

Nynke
 
what pain medication did they get? Was it oral meloxicam/Metacam?
Usually a neuter with sufficient pain meds is tolerated very well. There may be a tiny bit of sucking in their gut or pressing their "bits" to the ground but you just give them more oral pain meds and that stops.

a LOT of vets underdose pain meds and are way too conservative with them to the extent a lot of rats are in pain post-op.

Lets determine whats going on so i'll ask a few questions

1) what is the oral pain med?
2) what concentration is it (mg/ml)
3) how much does your rat weigh, and what dose were you told to give?

When was the surgery (how many hours ago?)
 
Hey, thank you for the quick reply! So these are two girls of which one is pulling the stitches and the other isn't. The meds are oral indeed, Meloxidyl 1.5 mg/mL (we are in NL so it might be slightly different where you come from?) She got some according to her weight (for 3.45 kg because she is 345 grams at the moment) this afternoon and we have her on once pet day this amount. We now have a sort of stray jacket on her to keep her from gnawing, she is very angry with me but is still eating with it on. Little bit scared it is on too tight.
 

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Ahhh a spay is a whole different ballgame, as it's more invasive.

Ok 345 grams, 1.5 mg/ml Meloxidyl? Her dose should be 0.23 ml once a day.
What is she getting currently?
Any chance they gave her buprenorphine injectable during the surgery?
 
Yes sorry, we call them the same in the Netherlands so I got confused! Spay it is indeed. So we have a syringe that doses on weight (specific for this medication) but I quickly checked with another syringe how much it actually is (not completely accurate though) and its about 0.25mL I think (might be slightly more slightly less)
 
I'm not sure about the injection, they didn't say but I suspect they did. Because they were obviously put under anastasia. They are eating well though :) i have been hand feeding them some water to be sure they are getting enough water in as well.. I am not sure if I should swaddle her during the night because I'm a bit afraid to go to bed and she having ripped her stitches out in the night (it's 19:30h here now)
 
She is in obvious pain though and I feel for her.. she js just sitting still.. I've taken her swaddle off for now and keeping an eye out. She keeps licking the wounds but not biting now. We also got some dermiel (honey crème?) Against infections.. so I'm putting that on as well but she keeps licking it off
 

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i wouldn't use the cream on them, they lick it off plus you want the incisions to dry and heal up.
You can give up to double that amount but thats the highest dose possible. IF they used buprenorphine it should start wearing off soon. They often act very weird, and very fixated to pull on their incisions, hold things in their mouths or pull/chew on inedible items like fleece, bedding etc. Its called pica behaviour and buprenorphine in high enough doses can cause it. Thankfully bup wears off in about 8 hours.

A good sign is when they stop licking and go to sleep.
 
Ah then I'm 100% sure they gave them a shot! Because Tofu (the one that is also pulling the stitches) was just sitting there when she came back and holder her food in her mouth but not eating. And indeed trying to pull on the fleece they have in their cage. So that's very informative thank you so much! I think she has calmed down a lot now. I also think she is getting tired finally. She hasn't slept all day and normally she is out from 10-18h.. so I hope she starts sleeping soon! Here is to a calm night! Thank you again
 
lilspaz68 said:
i wouldn't use the cream on them, they lick it off plus you want the incisions to dry and heal up.
You can give up to double that amount but thats the highest dose possible. IF they used buprenorphine it should start wearing off soon. They often act very weird, and very fixated to pull on their incisions, hold things in their mouths or pull/chew on inedible items like fleece, bedding etc. Its called pica behaviour and buprenorphine in high enough doses can cause it. Thankfully bup wears off in about 8 hours.

A good sign is when they stop licking and go to sleep.
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Hey Lilspaz68, sorry to be bothering you again. I have one more quick question. I'm really worried because one of the girls is doing really well (eating and drinking normally and pretty active after the spay on Friday), the one who was pulling the stitches is still really timid and not eating and drinking from her own accord. If we feed her treats (like boiled egg and nuts) she is taking those and eating a bit (not the whole thing but just a bit) and she is stretching herself a lot. She is already on her max dose of painkillers though. I'm super worried her wound might be infected.. it's a little red on the outside (I don't know what worrying signs are). It's Sunday evening here now so I could take her to a vets hospital, but I'm not sure if I'm making a big deal out of nothing.. It's so difficult to see her this way though
 
I also am thinking, if I take her to the hospital it might mean more stress while she might need the rest.. and we can definitely go to the vets tomorrow (sorry just writing away my worries and thoughts now)
 
Nyn said:
I also am thinking, if I take her to the hospital it might mean more stress while she might need the rest.. and we can definitely go to the vets tomorrow (sorry just writing away my worries and thoughts now)
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If you could get a photo of her stitching in good light it may help them determine if it's infected or not
 
That looks pretty normal. About 3-4 days post-op incisions usually look their worst, all stretched out because the rat is moving around more normally.
The best way to determine infection is get your nose right in there and smell for that horrible smell of infection.

Does she still have the wrap on her body or is that gone?
 
I took it off as she seemed to have difficulty breathing. She stopped gnawing them, still licking sometimes but I wasn't as worried as she wasn't really pulling them anymore. My biggest worry is the lack of fluids she is getting in. But I think she is eating relatively okay'ish. Not her normal food on her own accord but I've given her some boiled egg, some yoghurt and some frozen (defrosted) peas as well as some coconut and she seems to be eating from all of it a little bit. She is just not taking it by herself..
 

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