Help! Hematoma situtation.

[RatsRGods]

Okay,
On Tuesday I noticed my rat, Wheeza's, ear was swollen.
I took him to the vet and she said it was a hematoma filled with blood.
So she drained the hematoma and put 2 sutures in his ear to hold it down.
Well, it has filled back up with blood.
Called my vet again, she said that we could drain it again (for free) but it will most likely fill up. Or surgery is the other option ($$).

Problem- my bank account is dwindling. (i've had a lot of rattie emergencies lately).
Also, he has some respitory problems and I am afraid to put him through a surgery.

What should I do?
Has anyone else had this problem?

 

[lilspaz68]

How swollen is it? Most things like this will reabsorb.

 

[RatsRGods]

 

[mamarat2]

I recall years ago when our German shepherd had a hematoma in her ear the vet lanced it open and did not suture it back up but instead left some type of drain in it.....is there any chance they could leave it open to let it heal from the inside out?

I don't have any experience with rat hematomas, just recall that from the dog and it looked exactly the same on the dogs ear.

Hope the little guy feels better soon.

 

[Cityratt]

My dog just finished treatment for an aural hematoma not too long ago. We had her on prednasone (started at high dose 20mg BID in a 55lb dog then weaning her off), which reduced the swelling and inflammation allowing everything to resorb.

The difficulty with draining hematomas is that it opens it up to the evironment leaving it more susceptable to infection (where if left unlanced/undrained they are essentially sterile). Also, did they check for an ear infection? Sometimes (in dogs anyway) hematomas arise from excessive head shaking, most often (but obviously not always) from an ear infection...

Hopefully eveything works out for you

 

[lilspaz68]

Is she on antiobiotics and an anti-inflammatory?

 

[jorats]

Hematomas are usually reabsorbed. How is he acting? Is it bothering him much?

 

[RatsRGods]

Wheeza is on Lasix (furosemide) for his respitory issues (he just started that yesterday, had him on Baytril before but that didnt seem to be helping).
But as far as anything for the hematoma, nothing. My vet didnt want to give prednisone because she thinks it is not good for rats.

As far as his comfort- he is not coming out to play or as active. I have to bribe him to come out with a treat. I can tell Wheeza is uncomfortable from but I think it is a combination of the respitory issues and the hematoma. Not sure which is worse.

 

[Godmother]

That hematoma looks like something that would be painful, because of the swelling. Perhaps it's not as bad as swelling elsewhere because ear tissue is somewhat less sensitive to pain than other tissue (in people, anyway, not sure about rats).

From what your vet advised you with Benecio, I don't have a whole lot of faith in her. Do you have a supply of the meds that Jorats and Lilspaz mentioned? Maybe your vet would give you the go-ahead if you made a strong case and gave her Jorats' or Lilspaz's vets' numbers for consultation.

(edited to add) And if the Baytril didn't help his respiratory problems, is your vet getting you to try something else, like Azithromycin or Chlorpalm?

My heart goes out to you, having a vet who is hard to persuade. Prednisone may be a drug with undesireable side effects, and you wouldn't want to give it or take it for nothing, but Wheeza now has two good reasons to take it, and he would need only a limited time on it.

 

[lilspaz68]

In a pinch you could go out and buy Infant liquid Ibuprofen (like Advil or Motrin) and if you give us an approx. weight of your boy and the concentration on the bottle we can work out your dosage for you.

Its an anti-inflammatory and a pain reliever so he should feel better on both counts. How bad is his respiratory problem? Is he that congested he needs he lasix? Lasix will dry out the lungs but you need to make sure that your rat drinks enough to rehydrate. Is he still on the baytril? Lasix for URI on its own is never enough, they help each other.

 

[jorats]

Be careful with NSAIDSs... they promote bleeding which is not what you want with a hematoma.

 

[lilspaz68]

There really isn't much else you can do if her vet hasn't given an anti-inflammatory or a pain med.

They often say do not give NSAIDS before surgery because of blood loss but this ear has already bled.

 

[hyacinth]

Would over the counter hydrocortisone cream help at all? It would take number crunching because 5mg prednisone equals 20mg hydrocortisone but if it isn’t harmful to ingest the “cream” ingredients (licking themselves) would it help that swelling go down so it can reabsorb? If this is pure crazy just delete the above please.

How frustrating to have the overwhelming majority here and yourself state you need prednisone for your poor Wheeza and a vet not be open to the possibility. What are we as rat owners to do in this situation if we truly cannot find a local vet that can treat rats? Bring in paperwork and insist they at least look at it or ring up other rat vets? Go to our on doctors on our own human insurance with some trumped up symptoms of our own that we know will end in a prescription for prednisone?
Isn’t surgery a risk with anesthesia and increased because of his breathing issues? I hope it works out for you and Wheeza and there is a non surgical solution to it.

 

[user 78]

Dexamethasone is just as good as prednisone, does your vet use that at all? It's a cleaner, more functioning type of medication, similar in use/properties as pred. Maybe she'll go for that one if she's just anti prednisone.

As for the cream.. I don't think that would work. I'm fairly certain the warnings list consumption as a very bad thing. A little bit on accident wouldn't kill him, but I think in every day grooming he'd ingest enough that it may cause problems.

As mentioned, Infant Motrin/Advil/Ibuprofen can work in the place of prednisone. It also has the benefit of being a mild pain killer. The amounts you would be giving would be minimal, to help with swelling more than anything, which shouldn't affect anything in such a way as to cause a problem with bleeding. I believe there's more concern with fresh wounds [incisions] and the use of it over time.

Unfortunately, some vets just aren't interested in learning. The first vet I took my first girls in to [who was listed as an exotics vet!] told me that they only live for 2yrs, so he didn't see what all the fuss about their myco flareup was. You have to go through some really crappy ones to find one that's atleast half okay sometimes. I know it's horribly frustrating, but you just have to hang in there.

 

[Cityratt]

Unfortunately, some vets just aren't interested in learning. The first vet I took my first girls in to [who was listed as an exotics vet!] told me that they only live for 2yrs, so he didn't see what all the fuss about their myco flareup was. You have to go through some really crappy ones to find one that's atleast half okay sometimes. I know it's horribly frustrating, but you just have to hang in there.

kinda makes you want to make some comment about palative care units for people eh?

 

[Fidget]

My Kelley had that July '07 before she came to me...

Here are some links to info.
http://www.rmca.org/Articles/hema.htm
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_au ... atoma.html
http://www.2ndchance.info/hematoma.htm (she was not shaking or scratching and it didn't smell so didsn't seem to be an ear infection along with it).

She was taken to the vet. This is what was decided: It should heal on its own, poss. leave the ear a bit deformed. The vet said that they actually have to stitch it together in a special way or else it would just keep filling up again... So even with surgery there's a chance it might come back again...

So it was left alone surgically, tho she was on antibiotics and within about 10 days was looking great. It's still a little off if you look close but she is fine.

So is he on antibiotics? I suggest that would be his best bet (especially since he's had surgery) and no more surgery, and hopefully he will heal as problem-free as Kelley did. (And dang -she's cute! Nobody ever made a comment about her ear )

 

[jorats]

I'm so glad someone's had experience with this!!
Thanks so much Fidget!!

 

[RatsRGods]

Oh thank you soooo much Fidget!!
(and everyone else so their helpful responses)

This is very relieving! Wheeza is on Lasix now for his breathing.

My vet said she has seen about 50 rats over a 7 years span, so that is not a whole lot. Right now, she is my best option in the area. I'm just grateful that she seems to really care and want to learn and try to help rats. And she is willing to hear suggestions from me (I told her about this wonderful message board and she seemed interested to hear what you all have to say)

As far as antibiotics go, does anyone have a particular one I can tell my vet about?

 

[jorats]

I would think Baytril if it's just to make sure there's no infection. But others might have better suggestion.

 

[user 78]

Baytril first, then you start adding things in and trying other meds. Direct your vet to go to Ratguide.com. It's a comprehensive list of current medications that have been tested for use on rats, as well as dosages, health issues, treatments, etc.. Or, if she won't do that, you can print off the information as you need it and take it into her.