Rat has hole on lower stomach/groin (+pics)

[melodica256]

Hi everyone,
Yesterday, I found one of my rats has a hole on his lower stomach/groin that seemingly formed overnight. The hole is about the size of a dime and leads inside him so you can see his muscles. I was hoping to get an emergency appointment for him today but no one in my area can take him and I'm worried. I'm not sure if this is an abscess or something else.

He has been licking it quite a lot which I can't really stop. There is no blood around the wound or in the cage. It smells a little rotten, and looks infected (this pic is from yesterady). He's not moving around much.

Any advice or help would be appreciated.

 

[lilspaz68]

It could be an burst abscess but could be other infections too. That vet appointment is very important. If he will let you, try flushing out the cavity with isotonic saline (many recipes online but only use one with salt and water). This could flush out any pus or bacteria still inside.

 

[Dena]

Also, would an anti-inflammatory like metacam, or ibuprofen be a good idea? That looks painful. Poor baby! I hope he gets some relief soon!

 

[Cas]

Did you ever find out what this was? We are experiencing the same thing. Several appointments with the vet and no answers

 

[Zang]

Did you ever find out what this was? We are experiencing the same thing. Several appointments with the vet and no answers

Looks very similar to what my rat had. We never found out for certain if it was a burst abscess or if she was bothered by a tumor and chewed it out before her operation was due. We've cleaned it with alfadin solution (betadine works the same, disinfectant) while waiting for a vet appointment because it was during holidays. We also put her to a separate smaller cage where she wouldn't hurt herself climbing. The vet cleaned it out properly 2 days later and told us to continue cleaning it with alfadin and also gave us gamaret (some cow antibiotics) to place on that spot after cleaning. Plus gave her something for pain. The wound fully healed after 7-10 days

 

[Zang]

Looks very similar to what my rat had. We never found out for certain if it was a burst abscess or if she was bothered by a tumor and chewed it out before her operation was due. We've cleaned it with alfadin solution (betadine works the same, disinfectant) while waiting for a vet appointment because it was during holidays. We also put her to a separate smaller cage where she wouldn't hurt herself climbing. The vet cleaned it out properly 2 days later and told us to continue cleaning it with alfadin and also gave us gamaret (some cow antibiotics) to place on that spot after cleaning. Plus gave her something for pain. The wound fully healed after 7-10 days

I'll add that if the rat didn't have a tumor in that place, then it's most likely an abscess. But since the treatment is the same in any case and my rat had another tumor and was already scheduled for an operation very soon, I didn't bother trying to find out exactly which one it was.