Eye Injury -update

[Sam]

One of my rats is bleeding a lot from her eye. Heard some loud squeeking before I discovered this. I think she got in a fight. Can't get to vet until tomorrow. WHAT DO I DO??????

Update

hahah sorry but I think it's hilarious that you asked if it's porphyrin, just because of what I'm experiencing over here. Not to be rude or anything. Also, sorry about the stuff above, I was really freaking out. Didn't know what to do.

Okay so: when I said bleeding a lot, I really meant bleeding A LOT. She was DRIPPING everywhere. Like hit an artery and squirting blood. Major bleeding.

I managed get her to a vet who was on call. She normally works at the "Large Animal Hospital" so she's used to animals like horses but it was the only thing I could do. We spent 2 hours trying to get the bleeding under control (this is why I thought it was funny that you asked if it was porphyrin), but still couldn't get it to stop completely.

Although the eye is still seeping a little, the vet is satisfied and sent us home with my rat completely loaded on pain meds, more pain meds for the next two days, and antibiotics.

We couldn't find the source of the bleeding (because we couldn't get it to stop for long enough for us to look at the eye), so we don't know if the actual eye is damaged or if it's just a bad cut on the tissue around the eye.

She is on call again tomorrow (Sunday) and I will take her again if I need to. Otherwise, I will be at my regular vet's first thing Monday.

Anyways, I just wanted to let everyone who replied to my post know what happened.

I have other questions, but I think they are better suited for another category on this forum, so I will post those soon.

Thanks

 

[lj]

Can you take a pic? Are you sure it's blood and not proph?

 

[mamarat]

Apply pressure and give her liquids or treats so she'll stay quiet while you do it. I've had that happened to one of my rats. Good luck.

 

[jorats]

I wonder if it's porphyrin too. Rats will secrete this red type tears when they are stressed out or ill. But if it's truly blood, do what mamarat says, apply pressure and it should stop pretty fast.

 

[Sam]

hahah definitely not porphyrin

She was really bleeding quite a bit. I found a vet on call. She normally looks at horses and stuff like that but she was really nice and said she'd help :dance:


We spent two hours trying to get the bleeding under control. Things are okay for now I think. Will be at my regular vet first thing Monday.

I've updated the original post, so there's more details there.

Thanks

 

[mamarat]

Glad the bleeding stopped. Hope she's all better soon.

 

[lilspaz68]

We often see posts of "help! My rats eyes are bleeding" when its just excess porphyrin, we like to rule that out. Also there are times that under stress porphryin can drip like blood, but yours does sound like an injury. I shall pray it was only on the eyelid not the actually eyeball...

 

[jorats]

An eye lid cut can bleed like crazy. Good thing you brought her to the vet. Keep us posted on how she does.

 

[Sam]

I just got back from the vet. Apparently it was damage directly to the eye. Her pupil is completely dilated and there's bleeding inside the eye.

When can I put her back in with everyone else?

 

[lilspaz68]

If she isn't being bumped and no one is bothering her, go right ahead...she'll be happier and ultimately heal faster.

 

[lj]

:hugs: Sending healing vibes. If she's not too stressed out, I'd put her back with her friends.

 

[mamarat]

Good thoughts for your sweetie.

 

[Marylou Mader]

There is a bed of capillaries just above the eye to the dorsal (toward the back) and if they get crushed or broken, you can get massive bleeding. It's possible that one of the other rats bit into this bed and they bleed right through the retro-orbit (outside of the eye ball itself)

 

[Sam]

There is a bed of capillaries just above the eye to the dorsal (toward the back) and if they get crushed or broken, you can get massive bleeding. It's possible that one of the other rats bit into this bed and they bleed right through the retro-orbit (outside of the eye ball itself)

I gave her some of the painkillers I got today and she let me take a good look at her eye. Her eye has a hole in it. It's definitely a puncture wound to the eye itself.

 

[lilspaz68]

There is a bed of capillaries just above the eye to the dorsal (toward the back) and if they get crushed or broken, you can get massive bleeding. It's possible that one of the other rats bit into this bed and they bleed right through the retro-orbit (outside of the eye ball itself)

I gave her some of the painkillers I got today and she let me take a good look at her eye. Her eye has a hole in it. It's definitely a puncture wound to the eye itself.

Has the eye changed shape? If not then it didn't go deep enough for the vitreous fluid to leak out. It is hopefully more of a surface injury. Can you see blood inside the eyeball like this?

 

[Sam]

has the eye changed shape? If not then it didn't go deep enough for the vitreous fluid to leak out. It is hopefully more of a surface injury. Can you see blood inside the eyeball like this?

No the eye hasn't changed shape. Her pupil is dilated, so most of the eye looks a very very pale pink, almost white and there is blood inside the eye as well.

 

[jorats]

My Oliver had his eye scratched and a die test showed blood inside the eye but he recovered well. I simply had to add antibiotic drops in the eye.

 

[Sam]

My Oliver had his eye scratched and a die test showed blood inside the eye but he recovered well. I simply had to add antibiotic drops in the eye.

I have some antibiotic drops for her. The instructions say instill into eye three times a day which I have been doing. How long should I keep this up for?

 

[lilspaz68]

My Oliver had his eye scratched and a die test showed blood inside the eye but he recovered well. I simply had to add antibiotic drops in the eye.

I have some antibiotic drops for her. The instructions say instill into eye three times a day which I have been doing. How long should I keep this up for?

Probably 7-10 days?

 

[Joanne]

Yikes! I hope she recovers OK. Even if she ends up losing the eye, she'll adapt after a little bit. Good luck!