Tabitha:Update: Sept 28, 2015

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Oh, no! I wish they wouldn't do that. The only thing to stop it is a dreaded come or body bandage, but rats are so distressed by those that it's counterproductive. And, of course, they need the cone off to eat or drink.

No easy answers. I wish there was something to ease the itch or whatever sensation it is that causes them to rip at their surgical sites.

Poor sweet Tabi. I will tell her that she is causing her human mama a lot of worry!
 
The vet said she glued it as well as sutured it. :(
She is at a conference today so my other vet will be putting her back together when she gets a moment but they are booked solid so Tabi is spending the day there, waiting for an opening.
 
Poor Tabi, she looks like a trooper though. Hope she feels better soon. :flowers3: That is one big black rat you have (Clipper):nyahnyah:
 
Tabi has had three mammary tumours and one keratinacious cyst removed. She is not spayed. She was used as a breeder, so she has had babies in the past.
One of my other mommas was spayed with her babies, but she continued to have mammary tumours throughout her life. That makes me wonder if having babies increases the risk of mammary tumours.
 
Poor little thing. :(

And yeah, if they're the type to worry about wounds and such, nothing will stop them. My little squidlet had skin-punches taken for biopsy, and my wonderful vet sutured internally and glued (knowing that Ink was prone to self-trauma already), but nevertheless she made an absolutely horrific mess of herself - opened them right up and then some, had tissue protruding through the holes and blood everywhere. You just do the best you can for them and hope. :\ Thankfully their bodies really WANT to heal, and are quite good at it if given half a chance!
 
Oh wow. I'm so sad to hear that she is having so many issues. You're taking such great care of her. She is lucky to have you and she sure is a little Trooper.
 
Tabi is doing well today. They actually used a staple yesterday to close the incision. She initially bothered with it so I gave her a good dose of Metacam and after that kicked in she left it alone. I gave her a second dose today just in case.
I get the tumours removed as soon as I notice them. I'd rather do the surgery while it is simple and quick so her recovery is fast and she has a shorter time under the anaesthetic.
She is a bright and happy girl so it is absolutely worth it to have any tumours removed at this point. :)
 
Another update:
Tabi's site that was open got infected. :(
She now has a marble-sized swelling in that area. She has been started on antibiotics and will be spending the day (again!) at the vets to have the staple removed and an incision to drain the pus.
At least I know she will be played with and snuggled while she is there. :)
 
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Well, Tabi is being the most complicated patient:
The staple was removed and the site aspirated. There is an infection there and the vet is suspicious it is a reaction to the internal sutures. So, Tabi is on antibiotics now for that spot.
That, however, is not the only problem spot. The incision on the other side behind her arm? When the vet went to remove those sutures, everything came off in one big scab, and the incision opened right up. The scab was the only thing holding the incision closed. So we are back to square one with that area. So hey, a staple worked for the other side, so why not? Two staples later she came home. Tonight I was medicating the boys and then picked Tabi up. She panicked - she had been chewing at the staple and got her lower lip hooked on the staple, so her face was stapled to her side. How do you stop a rat from tearing off her lower lip? So I grabbed a pair of small jewellery pliers and managed to unhook it and free her. She ran off to sulk and clean. Then two minutes later I hear her struggling, and grab her to find that this time she had the staple hooked over her lower jaw and incisors. It was more difficult to unhook her this time as she was struggling and it was hurting because it was digging into her jaw bone. Anyway, I removed the staple altogether as it was stretched out enough to do so. I gave her a dose of Metacam and I am hoping she leaves the other one alone tonight once the meds kick in. I texted my vet and she will remove the other staple and try gluing the incision shut again tomorrow.
We also may have to go and do surgery to remove the suture material in the first site if things do not improve a lot in the next few days on antibiotics.
Oh Tabi...
 
Poor Tabi, Clark had a reaction to stitches too when he had his neuter... he was cleaned out twice. Poor boy's gonads were huge and he didn't even have them anymore. This is his thread starting on page 5 with the issues if you want to glance at it. http://www.ratshackforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29395&highlight=clark+neuter+infection&page=5

They evidentually had to leave it open and we packed it twice a day along with antibiotics and high dose pain meds. I hope they find something that works for your girl. She is such a cute little thing....:lotsohearts:
 
My goodness what adventure this girl has had. She's so lucky to have a mom that will go through all this effort. I had a couple get reactions to sutures as well and it just took a little time and antibiotics. Hoping for the best.
 
Well, the other staple was removed yesterday but as the skin seemed to stay closed, the vet just put some glue along the incision. It's still closed today!
We have an appt on Sunday to reevaluate things and see if we need to go in and remove the internal sutures on the other side where the reaction is.
 

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