Abcesses- Long term medication?

[TheRatQueen]

Our boy Sprocket has 2 abcesses that constantly grow and 'deflate' and the vet wants to stay away from surgery.

Have you ever heard of a rat being on clavamox for it's lifespan? He seems to be doing great on it for 2 months now, and they don't get much bigger than a pea when he is on it. I haven't talked to a vet yet, since I have relocated and am currently trying to find a new one.

I was just curious if anyone has heard if it's safe to be on that for a long period of time.

Thanks.

 

[jorats]

Has the vet tried packing the abscess with sugar? It has worked on a couple of other rats with stubborn abscesses. Also Bactrim is an awesome drug for abscesses, maybe give that a try. Another thing you could try is having the pus cultured to see what it's sensitive too.

 

[TheRatQueen]

They've never really come to a 'head'. When he first got them, she had opened it to see what color it was, if it was an abcess or mass, it was definitely an abc. He has two, that seem to be connected, since as soon as one drains the other gets a little bigger. I just found a new vet in the area, so I will see what she says. I will definitely ask about the Bactrim.

Some history to the situation: When he was younger he had gotten into a fight and the other ratter accidentally scratched his eye down to his cornea, so that eye is sunken into his head and he can't really use it, my assumption is that eye doesn't drain correctly and that's what is gathering in his neck. But we've never really figured out what they were from. They don't really cause him any issues, I just want to make sure that they just stay small.

 

[lilspaz68]

Where are the abscesses, and how were they treated?

Did you keep the abscess cavity open and flush it out until it was healed, or was it lanced and left to heal on its own? These often will recur because the body heals the surfce but some of the bacteria is still trapped inside.

 

[TheRatQueen]

FYI- This is going to be a little lengthy:

They are right under his mouth on his neck, where his 'adams apple' would be. When I first found them months ago (maybe 6 months ago) the vet she just aspirated them w/ a needle to drain them out, they were about pea sized. And she stated they were definitely just "ordinary" abcesses, and were fine on a bit of baytril for a few weeks, then slowly returned within a month. The 2nd time around, we were given the clavamox, which worked great, then one day it seemed over night, they grew to 'chic pea' sized and one had a scab, but it was about the size of a pinhole. When we took him back, she drained the one that was open, they never opened enough for us to have to constantly clean them out. They also never lanced them bc they were so small. She didn't want to do surgery since after the 2nd reoccurance they don't seem to get any larger than a pea. She didn't want to put him through surgery for somethign that wasn't changing his daily course or causing him pain.

**edit** The abcesses, never opened to a 'hole' they were barely pinholes.

 

[jorats]

Oh dear, I sure hope they aren't tooth abscesses...those are almost impossible to get rid of and Clavamox would be the choice drug for that. I'd make sure to keep up the meds.

 

[lilspaz68]

Did your vet check the molars?

 

[TheRatQueen]

I honestly don't know. They took him into the back room when they drained them.

I am seeing a new vet tonight so I will see what they say.