Seamus has a couple of problems...

[Argent]

Two completely unrelated problems by the way. First off, I've noticed the past couple of days his pee has been cloudy white :/ I have an example of this from when he peed on my tshirt whilst trying to get a photo of the second issue. Any idea what it could mean? He's on the same diet as the other four rats he lives with and he's the only one I've seen with this problem.

Second is he seems to have caught his toenail and ripped it up but it's still attached, with a sore looking red lump between his claw and actual toe - is this a new claw coming through? Do I need to keep an eye on the old one to make sure it doesn't cause him pain catching it etc? I get the feeling I shouldn't touch it....

Here's the pee sample :

And his poor tootsie:

 

[eagle]

Poor Seamus, it looks like the nail broke but not competely tore off and now an infections may be setting in. As for the pee not sure what to tell you about that. I am ssure someone will have more advice than me. Give him a kiss for me. :heart: Maybe totally irrelivant, but have you changed their food in any way?

 

[Argent]

Oh dear >< I'll dry and clean it up a little, just dunk his foot in some warm water with something antiseptic *nods*
I will do
And no, I haven't changed their diet...due to current financial issues with my parents (though I pay for everything for the boys in the way of housing and vets bills), they haven't been going food shopping very often and haven't been buying in as many fresh veggies...I refuse to give them wilted lettuce etc so they've gone without for a little while...til I found the frozen pea stash in the freezer last night and some tomatoes from my grandad lol. But I don't know if sporadic veggie feedings would be the cause of that...unless he was allergic to something maybe? I mean I'm kinda worrying it's kidney problems... :/

 

[jorats]

Have you checked for a penis plug?

 

[Argent]

I shall go and check now.....


....woah...that was different. Do black rats normally have a black sort of ring around their peepee when you press to erm..pop it out? It kinda shocked me with Seamus so I checked twinnie Rufus too and they both have them...I've only ever checked pale colored rats before so I could be panicking over nothing right? There's no plug btw

 

[jorats]

Yes, some of mine do have that color in and around the shaft.
Their pee might be very concentrated if they are not getting the same amount of water they used to. With less veggies they are getting less water so that's probably all that it is.

 

[Chevalrose]

Yeah I noticed that black also...but it was only on my berks...(light and dark colored)....not on my hooded. It was weird.

 

[Argent]

Ah right, then I'll get them back up on veggies (fridge has been restocked today, YAY!!!) I've had them on Dr Squiggles in their water twice in the past week (they have access to about 400ml water between the 5 of them) and go back to regular water after 12 hours or so, when they've usually finished off the bottle anyway heheh