Bloody anal area! Help!

[Nakkida]

I know its late but I just discovered that my sister's rat Oliver was walking around the cage with blood all over his balls and butt, she took him out and we believe its coming from his anus.. Can anybody help us? He is bleeding a lot and we're not sure what to do. We will take him to a vet tomorrow because its too late to do anything.. Do you know what this is and will he be alright? Should we separate our rats? And my sister told me that his blood has a gummy texture. What does this mean?

Please help! He is losing a lot of blood!

 

[Fidget]

I sure wish I could impart some wisdom or even a suggestion. It does sound dire, do you have a 24 hr emergency vet in your city? They cost more than the regular vet but not a lot more. If you do I'd take him there if you could. Not to worry you, but I don't know of anything that would explain that so you could treat it temporarily at home. Maybe someone else will come with some better help. I don't think so, I'd get to the vet if you can. Hopes & prayers for your boy.

 

[Fidget]

Have you cleaned him off to be sure it's coming from inside and not outside? That's the first thing I'd check.
Come to think of it maybe it could be a urinary tract infection. Does the blood smell? Is is fresh red or more brownish? If it's a gummy texture it may mean it's not fresh blood but has been sitting for a while. It may just cause him stress to be separated and if it's internal I wouldn't think there's anything to be gained. Has he been acting 'off' before this? Does he seem to be in any pain? I'm really not sure, I'd clean him off and try to see if where i'ts cominng from and get him to a vet soon as you can. I guess I wouldn't separate him at this time but I'm not sure that's the right advice.

 

[Nakkida]

Yes. We are sure it is coming out of his anus. He has cleaned it but it keeps flowing, slowly. I have been searching for a 24 hour clinic. Do vets like that let you make payments? I know that is a ridiculous question, but I don't have much saved up yet.

 

[Fidget]

That's not a ridiculous question, but it's one you'd have to ask the vet. If it's definitely his anus I can't think of anything that would be a-ok to wait for. Not to worry you, just to tell you best I know. And if it's red fresh blood with no smell I'd worry more, cause it's a sudden problem rather than one that's been there a while.

 

[Fidget]

Just wishing the best for Oliver....

 

[OlliesGirl]

Okay. So I found an emergence vet and we got Oliver there, thank god. They looked at him and it turns out I was wrong. They cleaned him up really good and found a puncture wound right by his anus, so thankfully it was not as severe as I assumed. There was a lot of blood. But we got him some antibiotics(Sulfatrim suspension?) and something for pain (Metacam). We also have the boys separated for now. I'm not sure for how long. I don't want it to be permanent. I am going to get him looked at again when the meds are done, I guess the only way for them to be together now would be to get them neutered. (If I am wrong on this, advice would be wonderful.) Oliver has had a cut on his testicles before and I can't figure out what in the cage could be doing it. But at the same time, I can't figure out why Tristan would be hurting him like this. I'm just lost.

By the way, Nakkida is my sister if anyone is confused. Sorry
And thanks so much for your support Fidget. It means a lot. :hugs:

 

[lilspaz68]

Going for or near the belly and testicles is a serious male to male bite. I would definitely advise a neuter. As you know they are scary wounds. :sad3:

 

[jorats]

I agree with Lilspaz, when the genitals are targeted, that's pretty serious. I would continue to allow them supervised out time together so they don't "forget" each other until you can get the Tristan neutered.

 

[Nakkida]

Thank you all for your help- the second post I made wasn't actually me, that was OlliesGirl. We were so scared I guess she didn't have time to switch accounts.

We have been thinking about neuters for a while but sometimes the vets in our area aren't.. knowledgeable enough. The clinic we took him to suggested an exotics vet in our area who used to work in a zoo, so we'll check him out before doing anything drastic.
Oliver is very dominant over Tristan and probably caused him to strike out. This actually has happened before with Oliver's man-parts, but last time it wasn't so severe.

He's in a separate cage near Tristan now, and his bum seems all scabbed up so hopefully he can heal quickly. Doesn't like his meds much though.


By the way, would a neuter for my boy help him become less of a jumper? He is currently obsessed with escaping from the big playpen we have set up around my room and jumps to the edges any time he can reach them.

 

[jorats]

A neuter de-stresses a boy. It could very well get him to no longer care about escaping and just enjoying being a rat.

 

[OlliesGirl]

That would be wonderful if it will help Tristan become a more friendly rat. I love them both but Tristan is defiantly not as big of a lover boy as Oliver.
As far as Ollie goes, he is doing good and we did have them together for out time. They seemed okay, though there was a little fighting as time progressed. I do plan on getting Tristan neutered as soon as I can. Hopefully that will help. Oliver does act very dominate over Tristan so I may need to plan on one for him as well.

Sorry for posting on my sisters account. I'm not trying to confuse people. I was just very panicked. I didn't think so much blood could come out of such a little creature. I thought I might lose him because I wasn't sure I'd be able to find a clinic open at the time. Those people are saints. :bow: I think I underestimate peoples compassion towards rats.

 

[M0onkist]

I totally understand the mixup, hon! You were scared, it was an emergency, and you wanted to get as much info as possible to us as quickly as you could.

I'm SO glad he's doing okay now! Definitely keep an eye out for scratches and bites like that - is there any way you can trim Tristan's nails? I know it won't help a lot, given that he's already progressed to biting Ollie, but it could eliminate him being able to scratch him deeply. I keep Mr. Honeycomb's nails nice and short because otherwise he winds up scratching my bitty Chance, who then has long scabs.

 

[Fidget]

I'm so glad that Oliver is alright, any outside problem is sure more comforting than an unknown inside one, eh? I'm sure he'll be fine eith the antibiotics (unless he gets an absess but that's usually easily dealt with) So glad too you found nice people at the emerg vet, that will be comfort in future if you ever have a real major problems (and you'll know how to get there faster, lol) So whatever extra expense this was call it the cost of a trial run that could save a kid in future.

Far as the name mixups - I think you did really well at a frightening time like that not to mix up your name & Oliver's! - They might have been checking your butt in the emergency :laugh4:
Kisses to Oliver.

 

[OlliesGirl]

Okay so a little bit of an update and a few questions...
My sister and I went to the exotics vet after school to talk with him about getting Tristan neutered. (We found out he has done many, so I hope that it will go smoothly). We would like to know what we can do to prepare. He and Oliver have been fighting, as you know, and neither seems to know who is in charge and there has been a lot of blood spilled. Twice Tristan has gone for Oliver's man parts, and both times he broke the skin. This was the second.

We have them in separate cages at the moment, because the emergency vet told us we should neuter them before reintroduction, and we have been playing with them in their playpen. Last night we noticed that they were becoming more aggressive and ignored treats, they began to flip all over the area after Oliver was mounting Tristan. Tristan fought back and was rubbing his butt on Oliver and going for his underside/man parts again. We're afraid they might be forgetting each other.
Tonight I read up on some of the "intros" posts to see if there was something I could do to keep it safer. We gave them yogurt and that was all, no hiding spots or toys. When Tristan was rubbing his bum on Oliver I put my hand between them and said NO. If Oliver mounted Tristan I flipped him and rubbed his belly. They boxed, squeaked, and flipped all over two or three times. The final time Oliver had a snip of his ear missing there was a little blood. Tristan had a nail on his back paw ripped back. So we decided that was enough for tonight. I just don't know what we are doing wrong.

Another question we have is how to handle Tristan after he has been neutered. Do we need to keep them totally separate with no play time until he is healed? If so, approximately how long would that last? Will we have to reintroduce them?

Thanks so much for taking the time to help us out and read our long posts :grouphug:


The original post of this was here viewtopic.php?f=22&t=13845&p=186157#p186157 I thought it would be better to move it.

 

[Fidget]

I just don't know what we are doing wrong.

Don't think that!! :shock: - it sounds like you are doing everything more than right! Like people we can have general expectations of them but they're still individuals and you got 2 that have a personality conflict. Hopefully the neuter will fix things up between them.

I would be real careful of having them together after Tristan is neutered cause it can take quite a while for the hormones to subside and he will be in a vulnerable state. I know you are concerned about keeping their connection, but at worst it's not a good thing that's lost. I'd have them out together in a few days with me right there ready to grab someone and see how it goes.

Another 'I don't want to worry you but..', I hope that neutering Tristan does the trick. You said something about Oliver mounting him I think? so I'm wondering if Tristan is the instigator or if he's just fighting back against harrassment and Oliver is the troublemaker. I don't mean to confuse you at all, just to address that wondering of mine. I'd watch them real close til the appointment to hope I was taking the right one in, tho of course Tristan is vicious whether he's in the right or wrong and I expect he'd be my first choice for neutering.

 

[OlliesGirl]

You're right Fidget. We are not completely sure who is really the trouble maker. Oliver does mount him, but once the fight starts he flips all over the place and scrambles to me to hide. And if I try to pet him he jumps. He'll just freeze up for a while, then it starts all over. It is confusing behavior to me because this is my first time with males.

So in your opinion would it be better to just have them both done and have it over with? And just reintroduce them once everyone is all healed up? :scratch:

 

[Fidget]

If you trust your vet to be experienced and could afford to fix them both then I'd surely do that!
Not only would it eradicate any chance of finding you fixed the wrong one, or that Oliver just bullied Tristan more after Tristan was neutered, but it would benefit them both healthwise (less likelihood of some afflictions in future) in the longrun. The shortrun sucks with 2 to worry about but maybe they'd feel they had something in common and be ok together sooner?
I dunno. I'd fix the one I figured was the trouble but if I could afford to fix both and trusted the vet I wouldn't think twice about doing them both. But you know that healing complications aren't unusual with a neuter?... (Hardly fair to lay that on you when you've just realized what emergency vets cost for injuries tho eh?)

Ask your vet what his fee policy is as far as after-exams or complications from the surgery.

 

[OlliesGirl]

Well I don't know this vet, but the vets in the emergency clinic recommended them. So I went there today and the receptionist said that they have done many neuters on rats. And I think my mom has taken our chihuahua there to be neutered. She also told me that it would be around 35-50 dollars. Which was surprising to me. I didn't think to ask about fees for after exams or complications tho. I'll have to be better prepared with my questions when I take Oliver in for a check up after he is done with his medication.
And I only know a little about healing complications.... I sort of tried to ignore those topics, they made me sad and I never wanted to think it was a possibility that my boys would need to even get neutered. :wallbang: I supposed I better do some research on that.

You have been such a huge help Fidget. It really means a lot. And I speak for me, Oliver, Tristan, and my sister. :hugs: Thank you so much.

 

[Fidget]

$35 - $50 is amazing!

Anything I say is just 1 person's opionion according to their experience and the benefit of other's help here. I like to see others agree or even disagree cause the main thing is to get the right answer for the kid at the time. If I confuse you enough to make you ask questions that's a good thing eh? :laugh4:

Just never figure a vet is good for ratties just cause he's good for cats or dogs, rats are a whole different ballgame. But if he's done many rat neuters that's great!

Hopefully Tristan is gonna be itching to run & play while you try to 'nurse the poor invalid' and you never have to deal with complications.If you have them you're in the right place here tho. Have you read the other recent posts about neuters? Seems glue is better tolerated than sutures (something to ask your vet about?)

Just hope all goes smooth as ice with the surgery & the reintro. You & your sister sound like great moms who've been thru the wringer. Oh it's heaven when our kids get along tho....