One eye bulging with crusties and/or open wound?

[myusername]

Hi, I am hoping to get advice ASAP because my vet is closed today and tomorrow (for the canadian long weekend) so the soonest I can take him in would be Tuesday. I'm worried that an emergency vet would not know what to do with rats.

My rat is just over 3 yrs old so he is quite the old guy, and he has had hind leg issues, his hair is getting more and more patchy, and he is getting skinnier as he gets older.. he looks very scraggly now at his age but he has always been happy to receive treats and has a good appetite, and seems happy. He has been on doxy/baytril for over a year (and is currently) for recurring respiratory issues. He gets a visit to the vet once every couple of months.

Yesterday he seemed fine/normal, today I went to give him his doxy/baytril and one eye was bulging grotesquely. After lots of googling I decided to take photos and post on this forum for advice. When I went to take the photos his eye seemed even worse than it did just 2 hours prior, so I feel like it is getting worse by the hour. His eye does not close all the way, so the tip of it is crusty. I tried to drop some human eye drops onto it to hydrate it but he wouldn't hold still, I think I managed to get one on there but it just rolled off and didn't seem very effective.

For the past couple of weeks I did notice that this eye had a bit more porphyrin around it than the other one, but it was only a tiny bit and the eye itself looked normal, so I didn't think anything of it.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks a lot...

 

[myusername]

I called the emergency vet and they said they do get people who bring rats and they are able to care for rats. Current wait time is 45 minutes but could be longer if someone with a bigger emergency comes in.

Also it's $205 just to walk in the door, any treatment will be even more than that. O M G

 

[Aida]

Oh jeez! I'm sorry, I can't help. I don't know anything about eyes. I have no idea why no one else posted, though.

How is he today?

 

[hopefloats]

How is he? what is the update? did you get him to the vet?

 

[jorats]

That looks like a serious injury. At the very least, I'd try antibiotics and most importantly an ointment to keep the eye moist.

 

[myusername]

Thanks for the replies everyone. His eye started to look a little better a few hours after that. It's like a red/pink color now and a little less bulging/smaller. It appears that when he blinks it now covers the whole eye and it appears moist throughout instead of with crusties. I am happy because this looks like an improvement to my untrained eyes. The color looks more dead but less infected.

He's on antibiotics for respiratory stuff, so maybe that helped.

I had some metacam leftover from a trial treatment we did when my vet recommended that it might help with the use of his back legs. I gave him a dose yesterday (his eye started to improve after that) to help him with the pain. I gave him another one today.

I am going to take him to the regular vet when it reopens tomorrow.

He still has a good appetite.

Oh, also his good eye is less squinty and more normal today, in the photo it looks really squinty and I read that means he is probably in pain. So hopefully the pain is less today as well.

 

[Aida]

Oh, that's good, I hope.

Good luck tomorrow, let us know the outcome!

 

[jorats]

That is good news. I hope he continues to improve.

 

[mamarat]

Good luck at the vet, glad he's doing a bit better.

 

[Fidget]

Dang that looks like it hurt, poor baby!
Here is my Fidget Nov 6

and Nov 9 after Chlorpalm & Metacam.

She was older and a sickly kid too, but her eye got all better.
I don't know if it's the same problem but worth asking your vet about. Sure hope your boy can get all better, give him a kiss for me?

 

[myusername]

Thanks ratamuffin for posting the pics. It's nice to see someone else's kid got better.

What was wrong with Fidget's eye? What was the medicine for? Was it an antibiotic?

I will post updated pics at some point to show how his eye is progressing. It continues to look better.

 

[myusername]

Here is a pic from today. I think it looks a bit better?

 

[mamarat]

It does look better. Maybe the vet can prescribe drops for the eye.

 

[myusername]

I went to the vet's today. They confirmed that his eye has been sorta pushed out by pressure, possibly caused by tumor but he couldn't say for sure (some kind of pressure behind the eye). The front of his eye is split and the middle part is coming out.

He says the condition is very painful, and while metacam helps it's not really enough and is not a good long term solution.

He thought his chances of surviving an eye removal surgery was maybe 1/3. He said euthanasia was the other option, to end his suffering.

I took home 5 days of metacam and a 5 day refill of his respiratory baytril/doxy to think it over.

I think I may euthanize him at home (using instructions from the rat handbook), rather than put him through a surgery while he is so sickly already.

 

[hopefloats]

I wouldn't follow that handbook. When an animal is pts it needs to be by a vet not a pet owner.

 

[mamarat]

I agree it would be better done at the vet. Poor baby.

 

[myusername]

I've done a lot more reading on it since you mentioned it. I thought since it was in the "rat care bible" it was legit but now I'm not so sure. I am leaning towards the vet now.

It sucks my vet charges $70+tax for euthanasia. I read that some vets do it for $10 or even free. But they did tell me today that they do the inhaled anesthesia and then an injection, and that sounds like the best method according to consensus on a thread I found here.

 

[mamarat]

I agree that would be a better option for your sweetie. It's expensive but it gives you peace of mind that they go gently.

 

[Joanne]

But they did tell me today that they do the inhaled anesthesia and then an injection, and that sounds like the best method according to consensus on a thread I found here.

I agree as well, this is the most humane. He just goes to sleep like for a surgery, and then while he is asleep they give him the injection. He won't feel it at all.

The problem with removal of the eye, is that something else probably caused the eye to do that. So removing the eye may not solve the underlying problem......

I'm sorry..... :hugs:

 

[myusername]

I read a TON of people on here saying how home euthanasia is not humane, and while it did provoke me to continue researching, I was not 100% convinced (people stating things doesn't necessarily make it true) until I found jorat's thread that provided several scientific studies showing specifically why it is believed that it is inhumane.

I am now 100% convinced and I will be taking him to the vet.

When I thought I wanted home euthanasia it was because I thought it actually was humane, and would be preferred over a scary vet visit (my guy doesn't like strange places). But now I know it is best to take him to the vet.

Thanks for this forum.