HELP! Female rat bleeding from vag area

[Teaka]

for the last few days i have noticed small spots of blood colored liquid around the bedding area of the cage. Last night I found the source.... My oldest rat (18months) Teaka had drops of blood coming from the hole she urinates from. She was spayed at 6 months old. I cant feel any obvious lumps or bumps inside her tummy... hopefully this is just a UTI? I have called my vet...she said UTIs are not common in rats and that we will put her on Baytril but it could be a bladder toumor.... EEEKKK What are her chances :S Also, the bleeding has stopped now, its the next morning. Her fur is still a bit puffy so i know she still isnt feeling 100%

Any advice?

 

[eagle]

Per our converstation in chat with Shelagh sounds like uti and you have meds on the way from your vet. All should be good.

 

[jorats]

Just for the record, UTI and bladder infections are indeed common in rats.

 

[Teaka]

OK..... soo..... I just picked up the meds but....

I live an hour away from my vet so she said she would call my pescription into my local pharmacy. I just picked it up and its not baytril at all its Doxycycline... my vet even said she would call the perscription in for BAYTRIL............

ALSO... the instructions on the bottle say 2.5ML twice a day for 2 weeks..... 2.5ML is almost a full syringe. Is this the correct dosage.... it seems like A LOT....

Please help, it dosent seem like anything is working out well atm. I would like to get some meds into her ASAP!

Thanks!!!

 

[Moon]

Wow, that would have to be a pretty weak doxy concentration, can you tell us what numbers are on the label? There should be a mg/ml listed somewhere.

I'd just call the vet and double check. Doxy usually works best if used in conjunction with baytril I believe.

 

[Teaka]

Its defnitly mixed with flavoring.. its 100mg bottle

I dont think i have a chice atm, its going to have to just be doxy

 

[Moon]

Its defnitly mixed with flavoring.. its 100mg bottle

I dont think i have a chice atm, its going to have to just be doxy

Yeah, but you still need to give us the concentration of the meds for us to tell you if that dosage sounds even remotely right. Are you SURE it's 2.5 mls, not .25 mls?

 

[Teaka]

It says 1MG/ML ? is that the part you need?

 

[mamarat]

I don't think Baytril is sold at pharmacies, only through your vet. I know here I can only get Doxy and Zithro at regular pharmacies.

 

[jorats]

I also don't think Doxy is going to be enough for a bladder infection.

 

[Teaka]

I will keep her on it for the time being. she seemed to be feeling a bit better this morning. Next time i make a trip home I should be able to visit my vet to get baytril instead. Doxy for now should be better than nothing.

Does anyone know of any good vets around Kentville, NS? It would be nice to find someone I can trust with my rats here....

 

[smilez_n_hugs]

I would try to get the baytril asap to avoid the whole issue of antibiotic resistance since doxy isn't usually strong enough on it's own. Since you can only get meds from a human pharmacy I would think getting zithro rather than giving just doxy would be better (anyone have any ideas?)

 

[Teaka]

She seems to be a bit better.

My plan is to go to my local vets tmro and beg for a perscription of baytril.... my local vet dosent take exotic animals... he only does euth in emergancy situations. Hopefully they will help me out

 

[Nekopan]

Baytril, or enrofloxacin, is a veterinary antibiotic so a regular human pharmacy wouldn't carry it. The closest equivalent a pharmacy would carry would be ciprofloxacin.

 

[Rissa]

UTIs can be treated with other meds besides baytril, can you call your vet and discuss which ones would be best that can be called into the pharmacy for you?

http://ratguide.com/health/urinary_rena ... _lower.php
http://www.rmca.org/Articles/dchart.htm

In regards to the doxy it sounds like they mixed it up to a human dosage, perhaps you can explain to them what you are using it for and you need a much more concentrated liquid?

 

[Teaka]

On one of the rat guide websites it says doxy can be used for UTIs.

Yeah, they defnitly mixed it to human amount! I have been mixing it half and half with ensure and she drinks it quickly. With the ensure its probably only a full teaspoon so its not that much. I tried mixing it for her last night for the first time and she enjoyed drinking it by herslef WAYYY better than feeding it to her from the syringe.

I should be on my way home from school soon so i am going to drop off at another vet to see what they say about giving me a perscription of baytril. the worst they can say is no!

She is eating and drinking lots and seems to be comfortable again... she is also running around with the other rats more, but still sleeping quite a bit in the evenings.

 

[lizmo1221]

You shouldn't be giving her doxy with ensure. Ensure has a fair bit of calcium in it. Doxy effectiveness is significantly reduced when given within two hours of ingesting foods/drinks with calcium in them. I would try to get her to eat it in other foods sans calcium, like on mushed up fruits or veggies, or in strawberry quick.

Around here I only give doxy with calcium as a total last resort, if the rat won't take it with anything else.

 

[Teaka]

could i mix it with cranberry juice? would cranberry juice be good for her bladder infection also? or i could soak it into toast/bread as thats one of her favorite foods?

Just came from the vet closest to me... they need to see the animal to perscribe or a fax from my regular vet.

 

[lizmo1221]

Soaking into bread would be a good idea. Cranberry juice would be good as well, but I don't know if the juice itself will help the infection, maybe someone else knows.

 

[Rissa]

In humans drinking Cranberry juice is pretty standard during a UTI, but I'm not sure how much a rat would like drinking it.