My rat situation is a bit complicated because they live with my parents in Canada, while I am in Scotland now. I didn't know that I would be moving when I got them and I would have liked to bring them with me, but as far as I understand it, that is essentially impossible.
I had been bringing my rats to the Montreal Birds and Exotic Animal Hospital, although I'm not sure which vet. Yesterday my parents brought Roxie to the Animal Hospital in Pierrefonds because it is a lot closer to where we live. When they were there, they talked to Dr. Laplante, who specializes in exotics.
Roxie is 21 months and developped an abcess on her neck about 3 weeks ago. I had this drained and cleaned at the Birds and Exotic Animal Hospital. My mom continued to clean it and keep it open so it could heal from the "inside out". Then she developed another abcess on her cheek, which has been interfering with her eating. She's been on soft foods now for a couple of weeks.
This is the report from my mom on her visit to the Birds and Exotic Animal Hospital:
Roxie likely has abscesses because of her molar teeth. Molar teeth in rats can't be pulled because they are too far back in the mouth and are not accessible. She tried very hard to see Roxie's back left molar but had difficulty because of the abscess and excess of saliva. The vet gave an estimate of about $400 to lance the abscess, trim her teeth and a stronger antibiotic and culture. She wouldn't have to do the culture, which costs $110, and just give her a stronger antibiotic. Roxie would need her teeth trimmed every two weeks. The vet suggests because of Roxie's age and that rat abscesses like this can be treated at great expense but not cured, that we consider putting Roxie to sleep. She tried putting a needle into the abscess but the pus is very hard so didn't come out, which is usual in rat tumors. The doctor said rat tumors almost always have to be lanced and drained - which involves sedation, half a day at the clinic to make sure they recover from the procedure, etc.
Lancing the abscess would relieve the pressure for now but not cure the problem. She would be put on another antibiotic to try to deal with the infection because the one she is on is not working. The one she is on is usually effective for these types of problems. She would likely be on antibiotics continuously which isn't good for a rat. She would have to be brought in to have her front teeth shortened every two weeks - which the vet said would be too much stress. She would need to be sedated to shorten her teeth using a drill (which is the better way to shorten teeth so they don't splinter - Roxie wouldn't let the vet use the drill last night without being sedated so she snipped off the extra long teeth which is more likely to cause splinters). Being sedated so often is not good for her and being continuously on antibiotics isn't good. She said it is more humane to put her to sleep as she would be under a lot of stress for treatment and may not have a good, pain free quality of life under continuous treatment. She also said the expenses would run up very fast. She said she believes in doing what is best for the rat and not doing every type of intervention possible if it does not give the rat a reasonably comfortable life. She checked Roxie's breathing and said her lungs sounded good now. She said most pet rats only live 2 to 2 1/2 years and Roxie is almost 2 already.
(I checked and they would be able to do this first by using inhaled anesthetic and then by lethal injection, which I think is probably the most humane way).
Any thoughts? I am hesitant to put Roxie to sleep, but it sounds pretty grim.
