Broken or sprained?

[Jess<3Rats]

Hi
Im a bit concerned about my lil rattie...my friend dropped her by accident and she didnt squeek when she hit the floor but later on I noticed her paw was curled..I took a closer look and it was swollen like a balloon! I put her down on my bed and watched her walk and she limped like she was in a lot of pain..
I put her straight back in her cage but im worried if its broken or just sprained? She didnt bite me when i touched it she just made a faint squeeking sound. Also is there anything else I can do or should do to make sure shes comfortable? Right now shes just resting in her hammock
Thanks
Jess

 

[minnow]

The only way to tell the difference between a break and a severe sprain in may cases is by x-ray. I'd say get her to her vet ASAP, and in the meantime keep her food and water very close to where she's resting so she doesn't have to walk much.

 

[SQ]

There usually isn't much that vets can do for most foot and leg injuries.
When my rats have had injuries, my vet has put them on the on drop of metacam every 24 hours. Metacam is a veterinary medicine. This helps with both pain and swelling.

Swelling is very dangerous as severe swelling can cut off the flow of blood and muscles can die - this is rare.

Hope you are able to get your rattie treatment for pain and swelling.

 

[mamarat]

Can you put her in a one level cage so she can't walk too much and have food and water close by. My vet also gave me Metacam for pain.

 

[user 78]

As SQ mentioned, there's not a whole lot the vet can do. The majority of vets suggest you keep them in a one level cage with food and water readily available. Metacam will help with the pain and swelling, so you definitely should go to the vet for that.

If you can't get her into the vet until tomorrow, I would suggest going ahead and getting some Infant Ibuprofen tonight. You want the Infant version, since it's concentrated and you won't have to give her as much as you would with the Children's version. Make sure the ingredients list Ibuprofen as the only active ingredient. You'll also need her weight to give her the proper dosage. It will help with the pain and help get the swelling down until you're able to get her in, and it's not such a strong drug that your vet won't be able to prescribe her something.

 

[lilspaz68]

How swollen is it? You said she was walking on it, probably dotting it down as she moved? Unlikely to be a break then.

But if its horribly swollen it will need an anti-inflammatory. I use metacam myself but you can use infant liquid ibuprofen as well, but you would need her approx. weigth and the concentration of the bottle.

Does it look like this?

 

[Moon]

Poor girl, I hope it's not too bad a sprain and she gets over it soon.

 

[Jess<3Rats]

How swollen is it? You said she was walking on it, probably dotting it down as she moved? Unlikely to be a break then.

But if its horribly swollen it will need an anti-inflammatory. I use metacam myself but you can use infant liquid ibuprofen as well, but you would need her approx. weigth and the concentration of the bottle.

Does it look like this?

Thanks everyone for your help!
Unfortunatly my mum and dad are disagreeing for me to take her to a vet because she is 'Just a rat'...She seems to be improving slightly and as for the example picture it doesn't look quite as bad as that and the swelling is mainly around her ankle.
My friend is currently borrowing my one level cage for her new born rats but Ive tried to keep her in her hammock as much as possible and kept all water and food up there too.
Shes able to walk on it a bit more but when standing she constantly keeps it curled.
Again thanks for the help I think she should recover soon!
X

 

[Godmother]

Just a rat

Didn't they used to say that about women? children? People of colour? Jews? poor people? farm animals? stray dogs & cats? Bison? fish?

Seems like there is always an excuse to pretend that some other category of living creature is somehow less worthy.

 

[SQ]

Part of being a pet owner is providing your pets with medical care.
It is unfortunate that your parents do not seem to realize that.
Making a small animal suffer in pain because they refuse to provide medical care is an inexcusable thing for your parents to do.

Hope you are able to come up with a plan for when your rats get ill, because sooner or later they will and seeing a vet will be a matter of life or death.

 

[jorats]

I'm always amazed how the kids are so much more compassionate and intelligent when it comes to these things. I always assumed they learned it from the parents but obviously not. I'm so sad to see so many parents not put in any effort. They should realize that pet caring is a great teaching aid to your kids.
I'm so glad you have learned to do better for your animal despite your parent's attitude.

 

[Willow Bean]

Agreeing with Jorats, there are SO many parents out there who buy a small animal for their children to "teach them responsibility". But it's all too often those same parents who won't take responsibility themselves when the animal gets ill. It would be wonderful if parents would start showing some responibility, especially when they are the ones who are (most of the time) bringing the animal into the house. Now that my rant is over... :ranton:

is there any way that your parents would loan you the money and you could pay them back? Like doing extra chores or something like that? Tell them that it will help you learn responibility and that it would be a good life lesson to learn. If they still refuse you could always stop cleaning up after yourself and tell them that they didn't seem to want you to learn responibility with your rat, so why should you learn it from cleaning up after yourself? :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

 

[Jess<3Rats]

'is there any way that your parents would loan you the money and you could pay them back? Like doing extra chores or something like that?'

I know...my parents are meanines they allow to take my dogs to the vet but as rats have short life spans and dont cost alot etc etc my mum refuses to pay the vet something like £20 to just look at her which annoys her :? but Ive just had my birthday so if she doesnt get better soon then I shall pay towards any vet fees for my sweety
Thanks again for the help!
I shall try and stick a photo up of her leg to see what you guys think :thumbup:

 

[jennifervb]

I will keep my opinion to myself regarding your parents' statement... let's just hope that both your mother and father are re-incarnated as rats.

Your little lady sounds like she has a sprain. I have been treating my little man, Basil, for his sprain with Baytril and Meloxicam and the swelling is completely gone.

One way I check my rats for broken feet (as opposed to sprains) is to gently roll my finger under the foot to "stretch" it out a bit. If the bone is broken... this action will hurt!

My mother once stepped on my little girl, Tara, and our vet was actually able to reset the little bone. She had her tiny little leg cast for 2 weeks (and it had to be replaced THREE TIMES because her ladyship was eating it...LMAO!!!) but she recovered fully and was able to use the foot with no problems.

Our vet in California was AWESOME!!!

 

[user 78]

Do you have her weight? If you have a small scale, you could weigh her yourself at home. Something like a kitchen scale or a postal scale will give you her approximate weight. If you can get that, we can help you figure dosage for Infant Motrin/Ibuprofen. It's definitely cheaper than a vet visit, so hopefully your parents will be able to help you out. Ibuprofen is an anti inflammatory and a pain reducer, so it will help your poor girl out until the sprain fixes itself or you can get her into the vet.

 

[Miya_Moo_Chu]

Just a rat

Didn't they used to say that about women? children? People of colour? Jews? poor people? farm animals? stray dogs & cats? Bison? fish?

Seems like there is always an excuse to pretend that some other category of living creature is somehow less worthy.

Thats exactly what my parents tried to pull off, but then I cried and yelled at them. so we went. lol
Nahh, my mom just fell in love with Moo licking her, so she had to take them to the vet..
but sadly, My dad still hates all of the animals we have, besides coco...[Doberman] which is mean and hates everyone lol

 

[KristyR]

Thank goodness my mother was as much an animal lover as I was when I was growing up, or I would have probably cried myself to death! I remember when my first dog got cancer, and the vet wanted to do chemotherapy, my dad said, "I'm not paying for chemotherapy for the Go***mn dog." My mother got very close up in his face, and very calmly but firmly said, "You can either pay for chemotherapy for the 'go***mn dog' or you can pay for the go***mn divorce and the go***mn therapy for Kristy!"

The dog got chemo.

 

[LA]

Just a rat

Didn't they used to say that about women? children? People of colour? Jews? poor people? farm animals? stray dogs & cats? Bison? fish?

Seems like there is always an excuse to pretend that some other category of living creature is somehow less worthy.

Unfortuantely my mom thinks the same thing. It only costs $10 for a rat, why would you spend all the money for a vet. *sigh* Fortunately I live on my own and Wayne agrees with me. I feel for you.

 

[jennifervb]

Thank goodness my mother was as much an animal lover as I was when I was growing up, or I would have probably cried myself to death! I remember when my first dog got cancer, and the vet wanted to do chemotherapy, my dad said, "I'm not paying for chemotherapy for the Go***mn dog." My mother got very close up in his face, and very calmly but firmly said, "You can either pay for chemotherapy for the 'go***mn dog' or you can pay for the go***mn divorce and the go***mn therapy for Kristy!"

The dog got chemo.

.... you're Go***mn right the dog got chemo..... hug your mom for me!!!! I love her already!!!!

:bananas: :love6: :bananas: :love6: :bananas: :love6: :bananas: : :love6: :bananas: :love6: :bananas: :love6:

 

[SQ]

Kristy, your mom sounds like a wonderful woman.