Beryl's Tail Wound -- Almost Back to Normal

[fenshae]

Here we go, new pic. It's kinda blurry because I had to take it one-handed while holding aforementioned squirmy rat.

[spoiler:28o1e4pi]

[/spoiler:28o1e4pi]

There's a new scab that I think (based on experience so far) will slough off after soaking in the next day or two.

 

[Argent]

Wow it's looking so much smaller now!

 

[fenshae]

I can't catch a break.

Einstein and Stock have never had any problems before, and I made the stupid mistake of leaving them unattended together for a minute last night. I didn't see the fight, so I can only surmise what happened, but I think somehow Stock must have chased Einstein into a corner and Einstein's foot got in the way of a lunge. All I know is I ran in to the sound of squealing and found Einstein favoring his hindpaw and his foot bleeding. I immediately thoroughly washed the wound, stopped the bleeding, gave him some infant advil, and moved him into the clean hospital cage with fresh fabric bedding.

I called the vet this morning and the earliest appointment I could get is next Thursday which is really not helpful. I'm going to try some of the other vets in town to see if I can find someone who will get him in sooner even if they don't necessarily work with rats.

But what do I do with him in the meantime?

The wound is right on the topside of his back ankle joint. I'll try to get pictures today, he was thrashing too hard last night and it was making it bleed more. The edges meet up pretty cleanly if the leg's in the relaxed position, but they gape if the leg is flexed. It's kind of hard to tell how deep it is...I can't see bone or muscle but there's definitely a big ol' skin flap and that foot's definitely swollen. color's good and the temperature's good too though. I'm half-tempted to liquid stitch it with crazy-glue but I didn't know if that would be a good idea so I didn't do it. (I've done it on myself before...it works surprisingly well, actually)...Should I be treating it the same way as I have been with Beryl, rinsing/soaking twice a day + neosporin and leave it open to the air?

Other thing. When I separated the two of them last night I noticed that Stock has a little lump on his side with a scab on it that I'm assuming is an abscessed bite wound from some round of intros. As memory serves, the way I treat that is with a warm compress to draw the pus to the surface, see if I can soften the scab and peel it off, and squeeze out the pus, right?

*twitch* these rats are going to be the death of me.

 

[mamarat]

Wow some more bad luck! I'm not sure about the crazy glue as you have to make sure none gets inside the wound at all. And for abscesses warm compresses. You'll soon be a pro at treating ratties. lol

 

[fenshae]

Good news. Einstein's foot looks much, much better than it did last night, now that some of the panic wore off he actually doesn't look so bad. It also helps that when it's in the natural position the skin meets up, so I think if I can keep it clean that it might heal fine on its own.

Just got done with my rounds of the 3 guys. Even managed a few pictures, although Einstein was NOT going to let me take a pic of his foot, we both ended up taking a bit of a bath in his soak. I think I'll stick with a saline flush with him if I can.

Stock. You can just see the recently-emptied abscess here. I've never done that before, a big abscess like that...it was possibly the most disgusting thing ever. I was expecting lots of liquid pus. I was not expecting the pinkish blob of....whatever that was...that came out first. Ewww. But he's looking a lot better. I ended up getting him a bit wet because I was rinsing the area to help get some of the pus before I flushed it with the saline, and my wet hands and a wriggling rat made for wet rat. Should I be compressing + squeezing + flushing it every day, or wait until it gets a bit big & full-looking each time? I won't be too disappointed if I don't have to do that again in a hurry. eww.

Stock is a big beefy boy like Splinter is. No wonder he's all alpha-like. I don't think he's very pleased with me.

Beryl goes Raaaaawr! (you can just make out the scabs on the top & bottom of his tail. the top scab, from where the emptied pus-chamber was, fell off today during soak & rinse and the skin looks lovely beneath. The other one's not ready yet.)

Einstein preparing to hide out in the hammie. You can just see how swollen his foot is and barely make out the cut from there.

Rat-butt! See how you can kind of see the gaping when he flexes that foot? On the bright side he can still USE that foot.

 

[mamarat]

Ouch ouch, poor you, poor sweeties.

 

[victoria]

I have had a couple of these types of foot injuries with my current round of intros and they bleed a lot and are very painful but seem to close up in two or three days. Pain meds are really important and depending where the wound is, as is limiting movement (climbing, jumping) if their wound seems to be having trouble staying closed. Neosprin should help speed the healing along and prevent infection. Hopefully, by the time Thursday comes, you will not need that vet appointment after all.

 

[fenshae]

I really hope so Victoria. Glad to hear I'm not alone...it was SO scary last night but today it really doesn't look so bad.

The cage they're in now, I blocked off the top level so his movement is pretty limited, and the infant advil seems to be doing its job...I think it's helping with the swelling, too. He's in with Beryl and the two of them have been enjoying licking each other's wounds and snuggling up and pouting. At least *they* get along.

At this point I'm starting to think a neuter for Stock on that thursday appointment would be the best use of the time....

 

[victoria]

They really are scary... especially when you have an otherwise cheery,active rat that is suddenly really lethargic because they are scared and in pain. Flour or cornstarch are helpful for stopping the bleeding (there is so much circulation in their feet so they bleed a lot) and pain meds are a must because the feet seem to be pretty sensitive to pain. Of course all of mine happened on the weekend when I didn't have a vet available and the wounds got much better on their own before the vet opened back up.

 

[fenshae]

Woke up this morning to Einstein hanging from the ceiling of his cage. *facepalm* guess he's feeling better XD

 

[fenshae]

More good news/bad news.
Good news: einstein's foot is almost completely healed. You can still see the line where it was wounded, but the skin has sealed up and no complications. Yay!

Also Beryl's tail is looking awesome. I'll try to get pics tonight. It's way smaller, and just a little patch of slough that's getting flushed with saline twice daily.

Bad news: this morning I noticed Locke just doesn't seem to be feeling well. This morning when I gave everybody their breakfast, he was just sort of sitting there looking porphy and listless. I could tell there was something wrong with him because he let me pick him up without trying to tear off my hand with his claws. I gave him a quick look-over, he has a few scabs but nothing looks really terrible that was immediately visible. His fur feels kind of greasy though and there's a build-up of buck grease (and I checked for wiggling, it really IS buck grease not lice this time, heh) on his back end. I'm wondering if he's not grooming for some reason?

Anyway...I had to get to work so I didn't have time to really inspect him. I moved him in with Einstein and Beryl and opened up the top half of the hospital cage to give them some more room now that I don't have to restrict Einstein's movement. When I left, they had huddled in on either side of him and were grooming him and snuggling, so at least they'll take good care of him.

I'm wondering if he's still being bullied a little. He hasn't fought with Basil in a week or so (at least not that I've heard) but he doesn't seem to explore the whole cage, he keeps himself pretty well confined to the lower level and the nest-boxes, only coming out for food or to peek his nose out when I come to say hi. So I dunno...well, anyway, we'll find out when I get to go home and properly inspect him.

 

[Rachael]

Give him a treat and see if he can hold it?

 

[fenshae]

I...don't understand what just happened.

I came home straight from work to check on Locke. I found him on the top level of the cage, hanging with his head over the side of the shelf, looking depressed. His breathing seemed OK, he didn't seem be be in respiratory distress anyway -- but his nose was very porphy and he was unresponsive when I picked him up. I held him for awhile and he was unresisting, I did a full inspection and did find a small abscess on him. I went to go clean that out, and when I started squeezing out the pus, he freaked out, scratched the hell out of me, and started thrashing around. He acted like he couldn't get his feet under him, like he couldn't stand up, and then he collapsed, gasped a few times...and was gone.

I....I'm too stunned to even cry. I don't understand what happened. I don't think the abscess could possibly have been big enough to have been the cause of death (it was pea-sized and in the tissue behind his elbow). Could I have possibly given him a heart attack trying to treat his abscess? I feel so terrible...

...Part of me thinks maybe there's always been something wrong with him as he never seemed to be accepted by the other rats -- his brothers always beat up on him, and he was always off on his own no matter what group of rats I kept him with. And he was always so skittish and nervous that I didn't want to force myself on him to socialize. He was the rat that jumped out of my hands twice and tried to make a break for it and never seemed to warm up to me the way the other guys did.

But still, I just....I don't understand what happened at all. I'm so shaky and numb right now...

 

[Argent]

Oh gosh I'm so sorry you had to see that I have no idea what could have happened to him, but I hope you don't blame yourself, there was clearly something underlying. *hugs* I'm so sorry...you did your very best for him.

 

[mamarat]

OMG I'm so sorry.

 

[victoria]

I am so sorry. :hugs:

 

[xxchelle]

I'm so so sorry, I don't even know... what would have happened.

 

[jorats]

This is truly very heartbreaking. I'm so sorry... it is shocking and odd but who know what kind of genetics those poor rats have.

 

[arresai]

:cry4: I am so very sorry, :hugs:

 

[Sharlees rattakisses]

:cry: So SORRY!!!
Please don't think poor Lockes death was your fault.
I think the draining of his abscess and his death are an unfortunate coincidence.
Ratties thrash around a bit before they leave us.
He wasn't in pain, it was nothing that you did.
I went through this a few times myself and I'm sorry that you had to as well.
I think he waited for you to be there.
:cuddle: