Any advice about a bitten tail?

[Godmother]

Last night I heard a huge shriek, then found little Stella with a bleeding tail. It is partially severed.

She had been at the cage bars, probably snorting at the big girls in the other cage, and carelessly must have let her tail get too close to the other cage. I know that several of the big girls would love nothing better than to give a good nip to any "foreigners", but they've never had the opportunity before.

The tail bled a lot, then stopped. It obviously hurts, but it looked so much better already by this morning. I don't know whether the end will eventually fall off. There is quite a kink in the tail.

She wouldn't let me near her poor tail to apply polysporin, and the others would chew off any bandage, so I am just making sure that the cage has lots of soft clean blankets for her.

Her regular vet is away until next Wednesday, too.

I used to panic about bitten toes, staying up all night fretting. Then I realized that even Debbie Ducommun takes a hands-off approach to most wounds.

It really is amazing how quickly rats can heal, but Stella's tail looks very sore. She bounces around the cage at full speed, but she squeaks when someone accidentally steps on her tail.

Any advice would be welcome. I hope that it's OK to wait and watch, but I could give her some abs for a couple of weeks.

 

[Melissa]

I would suggest giving her something for the pain and pay real close attention to it before you get to the vet. You don't want an infection to set in.

 

[jorats]

We've had rats with a big owie to their tails. We never rushed to the vet either, our vet would just tell us to apply pressure if bleeding and keep an eye on it for infection. If it does look infected, then you need meds.

A couple of our rats had the ends of their tail turn black and fall off on it's own. The rats never showed signs of pain though.

 

[Godmother]

Thanks for the info! The wound is very clean looking and has healed a lot since it happened. I'll watch with an eagle eye for infection.

 

[lilspaz68]

Do you see bone? I saw bone with Hestia's almost severed tail. I had to have it amputated when the tip started to die and infection started up the tail...she was on baytril and metacam at the time. Metacam will help a lot.

 

[Fidget]

Erin bit Savanna's tail (thru the big vein that runs down it) and neither cornstarch or CrazyGlue would stop the bleeding. I freaked out! Of course sitting at the emergency vet on sunday for 20 minutes stopped it.
So I paid a whole bunch to have the crazy glue removed and tape put around it.

In research after we got home I think I would next time give her some pain meds and some Ensure and accept it's going to bleed a lot and just watch her very carefully for signs it's affecting her..

The vet did put her on a run of batrtil too which is probably very important..

 

[RatsForever]

Poor Stella!! When Byron was severely bitten on the foot the vet gave him baytril and metacam and in no time it healed nicely. One of my previous was also bitten at the end of her tail, and it healed quite nicely on it's own - back then there were no rat vets so I had to watch it closely for infection.

 

[Godmother]

Thanks, everyone! Stella continues to do better. I think she might not lose any of her tail. Every once in a while she emits a loud squeak when someone accidentally steps on her tail, but otherwise she is doing well.

I was afraid to give metacam for fear of restarting the bleeding, and the wound is not very swollen, so I'm not sure what to do.

 

[jorats]

I think a wee bit of metacam would be safe. My vet never goes for the big doses. We give 0.01 just to take the edge off.

 

[Godmother]

I gave dear little Stella some metacam this morning. Although the tail didn't look swollen, she still squeaked when anyone touched her tail. She seems to be feeling better now. I also started her on Baytril.

Hope that my vet doesn't disapprove of me doing all this. But it's a long weekend, and I want her to get better.

I took a photo of the tail this afternoon, so I will try to download and post it.....

http://s83.photobucket.com/albums/j303/ ... ropped.jpg

Poor baby!!

 

[lilspaz68]

It looks broken, but the tip looks pink still? So there's bloodflow? It should heal if the tissue doesn't die.

 

[jorats]

Maybe not broken but definitely a kink in it. I've seen plenty of rats with a kink that prominent in their tails. Give it time to heal and watch for infections.
I bet your vet knows you enough now that she'll approve.

 

[Godmother]

The first night I thought that she would lose the end of the tail, but it is healing very well and there is obviously blood flow. The tip doesn't flop, and the kink is less pronounced than before.

So I'll watch her carefully and hope for the best!

 

[jorats]

How is sweet Stella today?

 

[Godmother]

Stella's tail is slowly getting better. I was away for a day and a half over the weekend, and I had hoped I'd see more of a difference. But I am so grateful that it didn't get infected or re-traumatized.

Today I saw maude accidentally step right on the break! But Stella didn't squeak, so that's progress.

 

[Fidget]

Kinda late for my experience, but when it bled real bad and just wouldn't quit - tried cornstarch, even put crazy glue on it... still didn't stop it. To the vet.
Of course we sat in the waiting room a half hour and bleeding quit by then.
$70 to take the glue off her no longer bleeding tail.

 

[lilspaz68]

That is good news. Poor sweet Stella is on the mend. :thumbup:
thank you for the update.

 

[Melissa]

Today I saw maude accidentally step right on the break! But Stella didn't squeak, so that's progress.

I cringed in the middle of that sentence. I am glad to hear it is ok.