Blood in Mouth - Back from Vets (serious tongue injury)

[user 78]

Oh, Shelley, this is all just so awful! Poor Sparrow! Poor you!

Is there anything in the cage he could have bitten that has a sharp edge? Maybe a toy his tongue could have gotten stuck on? I babysat a dog once that managed to cut his tongue open on a piece of rawhide, so even things you wouldn't think of normally could maybe be the culprit.

I really hope he heals up quickly, and gets back to his old self very soon.

 

[Shelley]

I've been trying to figure out what might have caused the injury, but so far we can't figure anything out. They are in a martins cage with only soft rope toys, wooden rodent chews, standard igloo, waffleblock house, fleece hammocks, litter pans.. nothing that really seems like it could have caused that much damage to a tongue. Thats what seems so strange and it will probably remain a mystery to us, hopefully we'll get to take a better look at his tongue in a week to see how it may have happened and what kind of injury it is.

This morning and last night he was happy, alert, but an hour later he's now limp again and very sad. Gave them their morning meds, and its a battle to get both of them to take it. Vincent is on the meds for respiratory and because of loss of appetite, Sparrow has a tongue injury.. Joys of needing to get creative. I even tried strawberry syrup to no avail. So right now I've been having to force feed meds.. not fun

Sparrow's mouth is bleeding again *sigh*

 

[jorats]

It's not fun when ratties don't want to take their meds.

Since Dr. Munn didn't get a good look at the tongue, I wonder if perhaps it's a tumour/mass on the tongue as opposed to being cut? How old are they?

 

[Vanessa]

Boy, is that ever bizarre. I have never heard of a rat injuring his tongue like that. Maybe he managed to take a tumble in the cage and bit it himself? Very strange.
I can just imagine how difficult it will be to get those meds into him with a sore tongue, I feel for you.
No wonder he is dehydrated as well, it must pain him to drink from a water bottle. Have you put a bowl of water in his cage for him?
I hope that he is feeling better soon, keep us posted.

 

[Shelley]

They're 1.5 years old. I put a water bowl and a big plate of baby cereal/ jarred baby foods out, he has been eating them when he feels well enough.

She said the first thing she thought was a mass or growth, but because of the sudden onset and no previous symptoms and amount of bleeding, it really looked like some sort of injury to her. Of course we still need to get a better look, but he's just too weak to be put under any anesthetic yet. The tongue looked awful, and I know earlier in the week he was licking my hand and his tongue was normal looking, so it's just so odd. She said I brought her the strangest case, not something I was hoping we'd be able to do. :roll:

 

[starfoot]

ooo god.. poor sparrow! I really hope he starts to get better soon, it's really awful when ratties go limp and floppy. Best wishes to the both of you, and vincent, and hoping for speedy recoveries

 

[user 78]

The metacam will do him a world of good, just remember that when you have to force med him.

 

[lilspaz68]

Yeah Shel, don't forget metacam is pain relief and anti-inflammatory as well.

Poor Sparrow...definitely have a bowl of water in there as well.

I learned a new trick with Dr. Munn when I brought in Amelia.

The scruff twist to check for dehydration can sometimes be misleading, especially in Amelia's case where she's lost a lot of weight and her skin is loose. Check in various places on his back as well. Amelia seemed dehydrated by her scruff, but her back snapped back well

We just keep learning don't we?

Did you like Dr. Munn?

 

[Shelley]

Dr. Munn was wonderful Her mannerisms with the rats is just great, I'm definitely going to keep seeing her. I noticed on the TV in the lobby there was a slideshow featuring some very familiar rats

When I checked for dehydration I checked the neck and back, and he was dehydrated - but he's fine now. He's warm and hydrated, but of course very sore, even with the pain killer. I don't even want to know how crappy he felt without it. At least when I came down this morning I got to see him as his bouncy self for a short while before he started bleeding again, then he became the ragdoll rat again =/

I know all about metacam, we learned about it in vet tech, as well as my dog takes it for arthritis when he needs pain relief. I don't feel bad force-feeding them, but it is very difficult to do. Not so much with Sparrow since he's floppy, but Vincent fights with me to no end to take meds. He may have respiratory problems, but it sure doesn't seem to slow him down from getting away from me.

 

[Moon]

Oh my god Shelley, that's so scary! I am cringing just thinking about it.

Glad he's feeling a bit better , and it's sweet to see his cagemates taking care of him.

 

[lilspaz68]

I figured you did, but sometimes we forget the weirdest things when we worry about our rat babies. LOL

She is wonderful isn't she?

I really hope that he does some miraculous ratty healing and there's no sloughing or anesthesia required.

 

[Shelley]

He's in so much pain right now that he is rubbing his face on the fleece and wagging his tail back and forth.. I don't know how soon I can give him meds again. She wrote on the bottle .o5 mls once daily. I gave him them at about 5pm yesterday. He weighs about 490g

Agh, so much blood... :cry:

 

[lilspaz68]

He's in so much pain right now that he is rubbing his face on the fleece and wagging his tail back and forth.. I don't know how soon I can give him meds again. She wrote on the bottle .o5 mls once daily. I gave him them at about 5pm yesterday. He weighs about 490g

Agh, so much blood... :cry:

call me Shel!

I'll PM you my phone number!

 

[LA]

 

[jorats]

Metacam can also make him bleed more.
My rat have rubbed their face on the ground too but that usually means they don't like what they just tasted. Poor sweetie.

 

[Vanessa]

Metacam can also make him bleed more.

Yes, you have to be very careful of that.
It seems a bit low a dose but I would not want to suggest you going higher because of the bleeding.
I would suggest that you call Dr. Munn's office but I think she has gone home for the day. There is office staff there, so leave a message with them and say that it is urgent and see if they might pass it along to her anyway.
Also, you have to keep in mind that painkillers like that get more effective the more you take them. Even though they will get relief from the first dose, the longer they take it the more relief it will bring them.
Maybe try to get something cold into his mouth, but that is very difficult. The cold will reduce any swelling and stave off the blood flow a bit. I know, easier said than done.
Your best bet is to try and get Dr. Munn to call you back with whether or not you can go a bit higher on the dosage.
Let us know what happens with that.

 

[lilspaz68]

Dr. Munn wasn't in today at all. I called.

How is Sparrow doing Shel?

 

[donshini]

Poor Jack Sparrow, hope he will get better soon!

 

[Shelley]

His mouth wasn't bleeding this afternoon as far as I could see. Actually saw him eat some baby food earlier He's still sore, rubs his head on the ground after he takes his medicine or if his mouth is bleeding. He seems to be doing better than this morning, but still nowhere near acting like himself.

 

[Godmother]

I bet that it would be worth asking your vet for an opiate medication to supplement the Metacam; even a small dose would ease the pain without causing more bleeding.