Has anyone ever had an abscess w/o injury?

[TheRatQueen]

Sprocket, my accident prone rat, had a lump on his 'adams apple' last Saturday, took him to the vet Tuesday to find out he had an abscess. Two of them next to each other actually, but she had no idea what it was from. She drained it and he's on baytril, no signs of injury. She wasn't really concerned with it at all. It's actually already gone away and he's doing well, but I was curious if anyone has ever had this happen? I've read on here that many get them from accidents or post-surgery. *shrugs* I didn't ask at the time, but should I be worried of it reoccurring? Thanks!

 

[victoria]

I've had it happen. It didn't respond to a month of antibiotics so we had it surgically removed thinking it was a tumour >_<. In that spot it can be from a mouth injury and the bacteria has traveled a bit or my vet said it could also be from the lungs. I don't think it's that uncommon to get abscesses without an injury or surgical procedure. If you have a recheck with the vet, I would definitely ask them to check the mouth for any issues. Other than that, keep an eye out to make sure it doesn't come back and that there isn't malocclusion. And be thankful it's not a tumour.

 

[TheRatQueen]

I am very thankful it wasn't a tumor! Trust me on that one! She gave him a thoughout checkout before she even looked at the abscess and she said he looked and sounded great. So I am not too worried atm. The largest one was a tiny bit bigger than a pea so thankfully I caught it before it opened or formed into something nasty! It definitely has dissolved within 4 days, so I'm taking that as a good sign that I shouldn't have to worry. I hope your lil' ratter ended up ok!

 

[Roo]

I think mystery-abscess are fairly common. My ratty had one in the same location not too long ago. Went away within a few days after antibiotics.

"Somebody zigged when they should have zagged"

 

[lilspaz68]

Things in the body can and do get infected (like Twiggy's salivary gland, supposedly happens in rabbits a lot). The rat is very efficient at walling off and encapsulating any infection or foreign object (retained stitch from surgery, etc) and an abscess will form.