Abscess? -Yep! Pathetic bath pics

[OceanEyes117]

I think I might have my first abscess, but I'm not quite sure what I'm looking at. One of the new boys, Dexter, has a smallish lump, maybe the size of my 1/2 teaspoon measuring spoon, with a dark scabby looking spot on it. Noticed it yesterday when I was picking him up, I thought I felt something like a scab near his neuter site. (He and his buddy Gus we neutered on 2/16 and came to live with me and the girls on 3/3. Still working on intros.) Upon inspecting closer I found the lump and dark spot.

I got some hot water and used a washcloth to try to soften the scab and let it drain, but I'm having trouble. I have to really fight him to hold him still to get at it. I've been holding him against my chest, with my hand over his belly, but he'll kick and squirm in fits. I get him steady enough to reach over and dip the washcloth into more hot water and then he's squirming again. It's just me, so I don't have an extra pair of hands at my disposal. So far I haven't been able to get it to open. I tried to get some pics, which was difficult, but hopefully it helps. You can't really see the lump, but you can see the dark spot.

So is this an abscess? Suggestions for getting it to open? Should I sit him in a bowl of hot water instead of trying to keep him on his back so I can see?

 

[rhapsody]

Looks like one to me! And when did you get boys!?! Must have missed that ...

Anyhoo, for my kids, the best way to drain those abscesses is to:
a) put several spoonfuls of Epsom salt in several cups of water
b) heat it so its toasty (but not too hot)
c) put saline solution in bucket with the rat (water level should cover their butt)
d) keep rat from jumping out for about five minutes (wear long sleeves!)
e) dry rat off with a towel
f) repeat several times a day

 

[jorats]

Yep, I'd say so. I'd do like rhapsody's method. You'll get that gone in no time.

 

[OceanEyes117]

Looks like one to me! And when did you get boys!?! Must have missed that ...

Anyhoo, for my kids, the best way to drain those abscesses is to:
a) put several spoonfuls of Epsom salt in several cups of water
b) heat it so its toasty (but not too hot)
c) put saline solution in bucket with the rat (water level should cover their butt)
d) keep rat from jumping out for about five minutes (wear long sleeves!)
e) dry rat off with a towel
f) repeat several times a day

Sounds like a good method. I'll go get a bucket and some epsom salts. Should I actively flush it after it opens, or is the soaking enough? As for the boys, I haven't had a chance to properly introduce them to the forum yet, so no worries on missing that one. Hopefully I can get some good pics of them tomorrow and put a post up to introduce them. They sure are handsome men though!

 

[SQ]

Just remember, warm water not hot water

 

[rhapsody]

Whew! Glad I'm not completely oblivious - its hard keeping track of everyone's kiddos around here! Can't wait to see their pics.

As for the flushing, I hadn't needed it to do it with on-the-underside abscesses since the bucket method soaks that area really well. And my kids were really good about cleaning out the gunk once the scab opened ( :sick2: ).

 

[OceanEyes117]

The abscess has opened!

When I looked at Dexter earlier, the scab was definitely more scabby and less dark spot, and looked like it had started to detach and open up over night. I got a bucket, put in warm water and epsom salt, and added one abcessed rat. Water + rat = pathetic!

It's definitely open, but the scab hasn't come off all the way. I let him soak for as long as I could, and then dried him off and tried to loosen the scab more with my tweezers, but it isn't quite ready to come off yet. I'll do another soak later tonight to try and help it along. He did ok in the water after an initial freak out and some fearpoops. I had my hand in there to rest his front paws on, to try and keep him a bit less soaked, which helped once he settled down. He did ok as long as he could hold my hand :giggle: What a gentleman! Here are some pics of the handome man doing his best pathetic impression:

Holding hands

Are we done yet?

How bout now?

Do I smell yogies? And a dry towel? I'll trade you yogies FOR a dry towel!

So pathetic!

 

[jorats]

Awww... but but why mom? why you do this to me? lol
What a cutie.

 

[rhapsody]

OMG, I think I know that rat! Is this him and his buddy?

 

[OceanEyes117]

Yep! That's them! I was looking for that pic but their petfinder post got taken down when I agreed to take them. Originally named Commander and Blackstone ( :giggle: such manly names! Made me crack up every time, especially now that they have no goolies! :lol: ). This is the background given to me from North Star Rescue:

They are really sweet boys, one of them was adopted from our rescue originally and the other one was a Petco rescue. The girl who originally had the boys had to move into a no-pet rental so she brought both boys to us. She had originally gone into a Petco to pick up some supplies and saw a rat in severe respiratory distress, so she took that rat and another one from Petco when they agreed to give them to her so she could treat them. The one with respiratory didn't make it despite her best efforts, so she bonded her remaining boy [formerly Blackstone, now Gus] with one of our hoarder rats [formerly Commander, now Dexter] and the two have been doing great together. They are very outgoing, love to play with people and are always waiting at the cage door for attention.

Apparently Dexter's interesting markings were a strange genetic development/mutation seen in that group. I've never seen it before. Not even sure what to call it. Striped? Barred?

Anywho, how do you know them?

 

[rhapsody]

Anywho, how do you know them?

LOL, that's 'cause I almost adopted them myself! They were at the adoption event that I volunteered at two months ago, but I ended up bringing a pair of baby boys home instead. It was easier to convince the hubby since the babies were a lot smaller ...

Glad they found a home with you!

 

[maria-mar]

Oh i didn't know about this method!
Only had an abscess once, took rattie to the vet the next day and had him operated... if i knew about this i wouldn't have risked putting him on anesthesia!... Or spent that much money.

Does did method works well most times?


*Edited to add: that is one HANDSOME rat!!!

 

[mamarat]

He looks so sweet in that bucket. Poor baby.

 

[Aida]

He is sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo beautiful!!!!!!!!!!! T.T

 

[mamarat]

Oh i didn't know about this method!
Only had an abscess once, took rattie to the vet the next day and had him operated... if i knew about this i wouldn't have risked putting him on anesthesia!... Or spent that much money.

Does did method works well most times?


*Edited to add: that is one HANDSOME rat!!!

That's how I do all my abscesses too and it does work. (with a treat of course lol)

 

[maria-mar]

Thanks for the info

 

[OceanEyes117]

The nightly [s:3lubvhfi]drownings[/s:3lubvhfi] baths have been going well, all things considered. My hands have taken a bit of a beating but as of last night, there was just a little tiny opening left. I'll check it tonight and see how it's looking and if it's necessary to put my hands in the line of fire anymore. Yay!

 

[mamarat]

Glad your sweetie is getting better.

 

[Rosa Heartt]

Glad to hear! My baby girl Nina has an abscess too
Just about right under the neck o_o,
She's walking a wee bit strange. Her head is tilted/leaning on the side of the wound,so her walking is a bit wierd.
She's a ruby eyed marked siamese,so it's hard for her to see with the head tilted I guess. Thanks so much for informing me!
I was about to go to the vet,but if it's treatable at home,I'll try! I also thought it was a tumour at first o.o That scraed the living mouse outta me. Luckily,its not. *sigh of relief*

 

[victoria]

Glad to hear! My baby girl Nina has an abscess too
Just about right under the neck o_o,
She's walking a wee bit strange. Her head is tilted/leaning on the side of the wound,so her walking is a bit wierd.
She's a ruby eyed marked siamese,so it's hard for her to see with the head tilted I guess. Thanks so much for informing me!
I was about to go to the vet,but if it's treatable at home,I'll try! I also thought it was a tumour at first o.o That scraed the living mouse outta me. Luckily,its not. *sigh of relief*

It's unlikely an abscess is causing her to have a head tilt and walk funny, that definitely sounds like an issue that needs veterinary attention right away.