Abcesses with no apparent cause?

anita1216 · Aug 31, 2007

OK, as you may know..my little agouti boy Boo had a cancerous tumor removed a couple of weeks ago. Now while that has healed wonderfully, he is now popping up with abcesses. There are two that have been so wicked nasty I have had to have the vet open them and drain them. Whats worriesome is that they keep cropping up on him with no apparent scratches or bite marks.

I am at my wits end for my poor baby. The latest abcess is on his shoulder and the vet said it was unlike any abcess she had ever seen. I guess the umm contents were rubbery and the capsule was very fibrous. She wasnt even 100% sure it was an abcess.She had to stitch it part of the way closed, of course he quickly removed the stitches. If he doesnt reabsorb this capsule it was in, she will have to remove it surgically.

Thing is? this is the third abcess in less than two weeks with no obvious cause. There is no damage to the skin, nothing to give you any clue as to why they are poping up like this.

Anyone ever seen this in such a young rat? He just turned six months old on Aug. 20th.

Honestly? Im afraid this has something to do with the tumor she removed. It was well encapsulated and the removal should have gotten it all. Is it possible that the tumor was just the start of something else? I know I could be grasping at straws here, but Im so worried for Boo. He is on Baytril and Doxy twice a day for 21 days to help fight infection.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

jorats · Aug 31, 2007

I have heard of a rat having abscesses all the time. I recommended putting the rat on Novotrimel aka Bactrim aka Septra. It's a great med with abscesses. This rat stopped having abscesses after his treatment.
I wonder if he's got some kind of infection inside of him causing these abscesses.

The last abscess you describe, my Isabelle had one on her arm. My vet was sure it was a tumour, a sarcoma, but in the end, it popped, I squeezed and pulled out these rubbery elastics type of thingies. But it cleared up nicely with keeping it clean and having her on Baytril.

Maybe you could ask your vet to culture the contents of the abscesses to see which med would be most affective?

anita1216 · Aug 31, 2007

Thanks, I will have the vet culture one of the abcess contents.

Its just gotten so depressing. I know he couldnt be feeling the greatest either, it breaks my heart for him.

mamarat2 · Aug 31, 2007

Hey Anita. I just wanted to add, not to be depressing or anything but so you know. One of my kids in the past, Nemo, started getting abscesses when he was very young and continuously got them throughtout his life. Sadly he only lived to be about a year and a half because he got one very bad one on his neck that we could never successfully "get clean" and yes the vet was VERY involved with Nemo. I had him pts due to complications from the abscess on the neck, it eventually moved into his ear/eye literally overnight.

The vet seemed to think he just had a very depressed immune system, maybe cancer was an issue but we never saw any visible malignant lumps.

anita1216 · Aug 31, 2007

mamarat2 said:
Hey Anita. I just wanted to add, not to be depressing or anything but so you know. One of my kids in the past, Nemo, started getting abscesses when he was very young and continuously got them throughtout his life. Sadly he only lived to be about a year and a half because he got one very bad one on his neck that we could never successfully "get clean" and yes the vet was VERY involved with Nemo. I had him pts due to complications from the abscess on the neck, it eventually moved into his ear/eye literally overnight.

The vet seemed to think he just had a very depressed immune system, maybe cancer was an issue but we never saw any visible malignant lumps.

I dont doubt that if this continues my Boo will have a shorter lifespan than he should. Its not as depressing as much as its frsutrating and so hard to understand. I imagine his immune system is somewhat compromised. Its a matter of just trying to keep him as healthy as possible and hope/pray for the best.

Lise · Sep 4, 2007

The abscesses aren't around where the tumor was are they? Grasping at straws, but I know some rats seem to be very allergic to the suture material they use in surgery causing abscesses.

Hopefully a culture can help. Poor Boo!