Older male rat with broken foot?

[ruthlessbliss]

I have just noticed that our older gentleman, Poe, is walking with one back foot raised. I have not noticed this before, but every time I walked up to the cage he was usually hanging out of his hammock. I'm not sure whether this is more than usual or not, since he is a particularly lazy gentleman.

My first thought was "Oh no! Could he have bumblefoot?" but from looking at pictures online, I don't think he does. His foot isn't red and doesn't have any postules. His feet are all kind of greyish, and this "weird one" is still grey, but definitely swollen. Then I thought maybe a break or a fracture, and was relieved that the internet was telling me fractures are common and heal on their own. But then I searched for threads about broken feet here, and found a recent one that suggested that the rat had an infection and not a break, and that infections were dangerous and needed vet care ASAP.

I've attached two pictures that are kind of blurry, but I hope you can see! I'm trying to find my own camera but I can't and it's driving me crazy. It's too late today to get to the rat vet, but if you think he has an infection, please PLEASE let me know so I can try and make an appointment ASAP. I am not EXTREMELY worried, because Poe doesn't really seem to be... Well, very bothered or in much pain. But he is an older guy, and he's my big sweetie pie, and I would be devastated to lose him, so I don't want to take any chances and say "oh, it's just a fracture".

On the swollen foot, it kind of looks like something might be stuck in his foot. What it actually looks like is like there is an extra toe that got bent back into the foot, but I counted, and he has the right amount of toes. There is also dead skin sort of peeling off of the foot. Not a whole lot, but enough to notice.

Lastly, if he needs antibiotics, what does he need? We may already have some in the house, as one of our foster cats has had her meds switched a couple of times. I have a scale, so I can measure his weight to help determine dosage.

You can see a bit of the dead skin in this picture.

Swollen foot is the one on the right. He did not like being held on his back and wouldn't let me try and get a better picture.

 

[Joanne]

I would probably err on the side of caution and give him some antibiotics anyway. How does his foot feel? If it's an infection then it would usually be hot and red. If it's a recent trauma it could also be hot and red from inflammation. If it's just swollen but a normal colour and temperature, then I would tend towards a less-recent trauma.

 

[SQ]

You may want to give an anti inflamatory to help keep the swelling down
Metacam would help both swelling and pain.
Keep an eye on the swelling as swelling can be dangerous if it becomes too much.

If it looks like something is stuck in his foot and you think he may have an infection, a vet and antibiotics would be a good idea.

Many rats get sprains which are swollen and painful but heal ok on their own ... with pain meds and an anti inflamatory

 

[ruthlessbliss]

His foot feels normal, not hot or cool, just like his other feet. The only difference is the swollenness and the dead skin, which I suppose could be from the fact that his body part just plumped up in size. How old do you think it would be? Their cage is in my room and next to my computer desk, so I'm usually right next to them 24/7, but my regular computer is being repaired so I've been out and about. That said, I haven't noticed any complaints coming from their half of the cage... He doesn't tend to be a big adventurer, rarely jumps, and their ramp is covered.

I will look into an anti-inflammatory, will go ask my mom if we have any metacam. After we figure that out, I'll look for my camera again so I can get some better pictures, and reassess the situation once it's easier to see what's going on with his foot.

I hope it's something relatively minor, but even if it is, I'm thinking a vet visit is in order and maybe some frozen peas to apologize for fussing with him

 

[jorats]

Baytril or Bactrim would be ok for an infection with that type of injury or even for cellulitis which one symptom is swelling of the foot.
If it's a sprained foot, it should heal fast enough within a week. If it doesn't look better in a week, then it's time to see the vet.
I also agree with the metacam or ibuprofen.

 

[ruthlessbliss]

I just gave him 60mg of ibuprofen (he weighed in at just over a pound), crushed up and put in some wet cat food. He ate it up without a problem. He's moving around, and doesn't seem to be in pain, but a few minutes after he finished the food, he went straight back to the hammock. I don't know whether this means he IS in pain and is trying to stay off of it, or whether he just feels like chilling.

 

[lilspaz68]

That's the highest dose you can give and I usually give less than half that even for extreme swelling so be careful how much you give him. Start with treating it as a bad sprain and go from there.

 

[ruthlessbliss]

Okay, that's good to know! I got the dosage from here, down in the part "Giving Ibuprofen". It says "The dose is 15-60 mg/lb 2-4 times a day. Lower doses are for analgesia, higher for inflammation." Is that not correct? I've only given him one dosage, and didn't plan to give him another today as it is fairly late. Should I dose him 30mg or 15mg, or whatever, multiple times a day, or just once?

 

[TheRatQueen]

Neros foot swelled like that and peeled. It went down in about 3 days after that point and resolved in about 10 days.

 

[lilspaz68]

Okay, that's good to know! I got the dosage from here, down in the part "Giving Ibuprofen". It says "The dose is 15-60 mg/lb 2-4 times a day. Lower doses are for analgesia, higher for inflammation." Is that not correct? I've only given him one dosage, and didn't plan to give him another today as it is fairly late. Should I dose him 30mg or 15mg, or whatever, multiple times a day, or just once?

I would use 30 mg/kg or for him .34 cc's of infant ibuproben (you will need to get infant liquid ibuprofen and not use adult pills anymore) and i would give it every 4-6 hours til the swelling starts really going down.

 

[purinpurin]

I'd take caution and carefully follow the advice given above.

A single body part never just "plumps up" in size without cause or reason. It could be a blocked blood vessel, it could be a sprain, it could be a number of things. Remember to take him to the vet! Good luck.

 

[ruthlessbliss]

Sorry for not updating! I'm used to getting email reminders when people comment, but I forgot to click the button this time. Poe is doing much better! The swelling is down considerably and his foot looks almost normal, but not quite. I'm even inclined more to think it a sprain or something. He has not been to the vet YET, but he will soon, even if the swelling goes away. There no longer appears to be anything stuck to his foot... I'm not sure if I was seeing things that weren't there, or if something came off. He's moving around just fine, climbing out of his hammock quite quickly when he sees me coming with food or kisses, and when my mom came in to visit him yesterday, she said "Poe! You look younger!"

 

[victoria]

Sprains are pretty commons, especially in bigger males as they age. (At least in my experience.) He could have even just twisted his foot getting out of a hammock.

 

[Joanne]

I'm glad to hear he is recovering well. :thumbup:

 

[TheRatQueen]

Great news!

 

[mamarat]

Good news.

 

[ruthlessbliss]

Thanks for all the support, everyone! Sometimes life gets so busy that it's hard for me to get everything I need to do, spend time with my friends, family, and furry buddies, and still get time to just hang out at the forum, but I really appreciate that every time I have a problem or a question that there is someone always there who can help me, and quickly, too.