necrotic tissue

[minnieflower]

By the way she still eats, drinks and uses the bathroom normally. She moves around and isn't losing a lot of weight. Also there is no pus or blood comming from underneath the scab. Its comming off really clean but it does smell a little. The smell has decreased since I started cleaning her everyday

 

[lilspaz68]

can you post a pic? Then we can tell you what you can and cannot do. Debriding tissue is not one we will blithely tell you to do without at least seeing whats going on. The rat often will debride her own tissue,so if she hasn't maybe you shouldn't?

 

[Sheldon]

If it is obviously dead tissue you can carefully trim it with VERY clean and sharp scissors.

BUT- necrotic on the outside did not mean it is dead between the layers of dead tissue. You must be sure and extremely careful. What meds did they give you?

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[minnieflower]

She has metacam and trimethoprim sulfadiazine. I'll post some pictures of it.

 

[minnieflower]

The last pic is the open part. The second picture is where its attached and the third is the back which is just hanging.

 

[minnieflower]

My girls tumor is completely falling out now. Its really strange but the skin underneath looks pretty normal just bald. Theres no blood or pus, it's comming off pretty clean. She's starting to slow down a lot now. She eats and drinks normally but she has a hard time getting around because of the tumor. I made her a small sling that helps a lot, but her tail is also limp. I think I'm gonna take her back to see a vet, but unfortunately I think she might have to be pts. I was hoping she would have a day or two once the tumor fell off but I'm not sure how bad her condition is. How would I tell if she's in a lot of pain? I think her med's are working since she doesn't seem like she has an infection but I'm not sure.

 

[Sheldon]

I kind of find it odd that you were given Bactrim for her wound. Don't get me wrong, it is a good antibiotic but Cephalexin or Augmentin might have been better. I always hate to question a vet though.

You say it looks good now that it has fallen off? Why are you considering euthanasia? Because she is slowing? If you are thinking of doing it to relievers of possible pain, know that slowing does not mean pain in every case. Typically animals will guard painful areas or not want to be as affectionate. They may may audible squeaks, they may not. Refusal to eat and drink is late sign/severe pain.

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[minnieflower]

I kind of find it odd that you were given Bactrim for her wound. Don't get me wrong, it is a good antibiotic but Cephalexin or Augmentin might have been better. I always hate to question a vet though.

You say it looks good now that it has fallen off? Why are you considering euthanasia? Because she is slowing? If you are thinking of doing it to relievers of possible pain, know that slowing does not mean pain in every case. Typically animals will guard painful areas or not want to be as affectionate. They may may audible squeaks, they may not. Refusal to eat and drink is late sign/severe pain.

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To be completely honest I don't know much about meds and I just took her to the nearest vet because I was panicking and wanted her to be seen right away. Unfortunately it hasn't fallen off yet it is almost completely off. You can see underneath it and it looks good. She doesn't guard at all she lets me do whatever I want and she never squeeks. She eats and drinks normally but she's starting to just lay around. She only come's out for food and to sit around and look at everyone. Her breathing is a little hard and her tail is limp. I'm thinking it's an issue with her lower back because she walks hunched because the tumor is big. I just really don't want her to suffer. I wish it would fall off but I'm too scared to try and remove it. Its hanging there only attached by about an inch of flesh.What will happen to her tail? :s

 

[Sheldon]

Can you post some pictures of it almost falling off?

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[minnieflower]

Here are some pics. It was before and while I was cleaning her and her cage so she looks pretty scruffy. Its pretty,much hanging like that all the way around except the front.

edit:The second picture is what it looks like wet

 

[lilspaz68]

It really doesn't look like its falling off at all, where is the healthy tissue underneath, can you get a pic of that?

It looks like the tumour outgrew its blood supply, the tumour went necrotic and died, but if its not completely separate it could cause sepsis to the rest of her body, causing her to slow down and be lethargic. I really would consider letting her go...how much quality of life does she have right now?

 

[Sheldon]

I wonder if your vet knew that the tumour was barely hanging on if they would consider removing it under mild sedation with local like lidocaine or bupivacaine. If not, then I agree you should let her go. It definitely looks necrotic.

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[minnieflower]

I will get a picture tonight while I'm cleaning her. I didn't say the tissue was healthy, all I know is there's no blood or pus. It is coming off. I've been monitoring it for months since she got it and it use to be attached all the way around, it started peeling off about two weeks ago and now it is almost all off. The vet that I took her to told me its unsafe to remove it because she's very old and that it will fall off by itself. I'm not claiming to be an expert I'm just explaining what the vet told me. They also told me that the skin underneath doesn't look horrible but they gave me meds to help and prevent any infection. It also doesn't smell as bad as it use to. Like I said I might decide to let her go because I don't want her to suffer. But she does eat and drink and with her sling on she use to run around like a young rat. She just started slowing down a bit but I'm not sure if its because shes old. She never acted like an old rat before now. She's still bright eyed and doesn't guard or act like shes in pain, she's still the same rat she always was shes just starting to not be as hyper. Thats the best I can explain her quality of life.. I'm not sure how bad her quality of life is honestly.

Edit: Forgot to add that underneath the tumor doesn't look like an open wound. It just looks like bald raw skin, no blood.

 

[Sheldon]

Ugh. That is a hard decision. Can we just wait and see for a couple more days?

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[minnieflower]

Ugh. That is a hard decision. Can we just wait and see for a couple more days?

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Yea I think I'm gonna give her a few days. Thanks so much for all the input guys. I'm just so scared to let her go if its not the right time I'll feel horrible forever if im not completely sure

 

[minnieflower]

Just an update on my girl, she bounced back completely. I cut out any treat or snack type food and checked out the diet section. I've been feeding her a variety of healthy food and increased her protein a bit and shes now completely normal. and het tail also came back, it isn't limp anymore.

 

[Sheldon]

Great!!

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[OopC]

Im new here but I don't know what to do. I got 3 female rats from my friend and my rat Moose isn't doing to well. She had a lump and I did research and nothing ever said it could get this bad so I didn't know it would cause her pain or something. I thought she'd be fine because it didn't say that it'd get to big or cause problems. I kept her in the cage with the other 2 until it got two open spots on it and that's when I took her to the vet. They told us of we couldn't get her swelling down from the open spots she couldn't get the surgery and we couldn't get the surgery so she's still with us ATM. At first she seemed fine when it started turning black but then it started like rotting away. I've been watching her and giving her baths and stuff each day and she was doing fine and still eating and drinking fine but now she isn't really eating. When we went to the vet they gave us some medicine to give to her for each day for 3 weeks but that 3 weeks ended so I got her some baby ibuprofen and I've been giving it to her mixed with water, She absolutely hates it But last night I went to give her her medicine and I didn't have to use the dropper thing I put it in the medicine lid and she drank it right up and wanted more when it was gone. It made me feel really bad but I don't want to put her down bc of how curious she is out of the cage but Almost her whole tumor has rotten away now and it smells really bad and Idk what to do. She's my little baby and I wish I would've known tumors could really hurt them but now I think there's nothing more for her that I can do other than keep her tank clean and give her medicine every few hours and maybe get her put down. But the vet here closes at 4 and I've really messed up my sleep schedule by staying up worrying about her and thinking of I should put her down or if the tumor will just rot itself away and she'll be okay or what bc I don't know but I also really don't want to wake up and find my sweet girl dead. What should I do?

 

[Kye]

Im new here but I don't know what to do. I got 3 female rats from my friend and my rat Moose isn't doing to well. She had a lump and I did research and nothing ever said it could get this bad so I didn't know it would cause her pain or something. I thought she'd be fine because it didn't say that it'd get to big or cause problems. I kept her in the cage with the other 2 until it got two open spots on it and that's when I took her to the vet. They told us of we couldn't get her swelling down from the open spots she couldn't get the surgery and we couldn't get the surgery so she's still with us ATM. At first she seemed fine when it started turning black but then it started like rotting away. I've been watching her and giving her baths and stuff each day and she was doing fine and still eating and drinking fine but now she isn't really eating. When we went to the vet they gave us some medicine to give to her for each day for 3 weeks but that 3 weeks ended so I got her some baby ibuprofen and I've been giving it to her mixed with water, She absolutely hates it But last night I went to give her her medicine and I didn't have to use the dropper thing I put it in the medicine lid and she drank it right up and wanted more when it was gone. It made me feel really bad but I don't want to put her down bc of how curious she is out of the cage but Almost her whole tumor has rotten away now and it smells really bad and Idk what to do. She's my little baby and I wish I would've known tumors could really hurt them but now I think there's nothing more for her that I can do other than keep her tank clean and give her medicine every few hours and maybe get her put down. But the vet here closes at 4 and I've really messed up my sleep schedule by staying up worrying about her and thinking of I should put her down or if the tumor will just rot itself away and she'll be okay or what bc I don't know but I also really don't want to wake up and find my sweet girl dead. What should I do?

If you could make your own thread that'd be great, it will get more attention to your situation. If you could also provide photos/videos of her on your thread it could help us determine if it's a tumor or if it's actually an abscess that popped

 

[OopC]

How do I make my own thread? I will add pictures if I can figure out how