Oozing mass on rat's neck

[Scott]

We noticed tonight that one of my male rats, Eddison, has a mass on his neck. It looks like it may be oozing - we initially noticed it because it looked moist and we thought his cagemate may have been overgrooming him. It's hard to see because he's very skittish about being prodded, but it looks grayish.

This may be unrelated, but it looks like there are some orange/pink spots on his fur. I thought this was from his new red fleece baby blanket, which is getting changed, but now I wonder if they're correlated.

Pic here: http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/8734/img4864c.jpg (couldn't get him to hold still enough for better pic)

Any ideas? Taking him to vet tomorrow.

 

[lilspaz68]

The grayish guck looks like an abscess...does it smell horribly foul? Abscesses have the most distinct smell :sick2:

 

[victoria]

The spots on his fur sound like lice, you can get the vet to confirm that.

The lump that's oozing, it it oozing pus? How long was it there? Was there a scab?

ETA: Shelagh beat me to it.

 

[Scott]

The grayish guck looks like an abscess...does it smell horribly foul? Abscesses have the most distinct smell :sick2:

It does not smell good. I basically just held him down and went over it with a clean washcloth. There is definitely pus coming out of it, and the mass is open, but it looks almost like a cut. There is literally nothing I can think of that he could have cut himself on. We didn't notice it until tonight, and I hold him and scratch him frequently, so I don't think it could have been there long, although it's pretty well hidden under his fur.

I'm really worried about him. How do rats do with surgeries? This is my first pair of rats and I have no idea what to expect when I take him in.

 

[Scott]

(I mean I don't think it could have been open like that for long without my noticing. It definitely could have been hidden under the fur before it burst or opened up, because even now it's hard to get a good look at it.)

 

[lilspaz68]

This is an infected wound after flushing

this is an abscess which is a cavity that was fully of nasty guck (bacteria, pus, etc) but an abscess walls off the bad stuff from the body, and once it opens up, and drains, its a big empty cavity normally.

 

[fenshae]

Shelagh, you have all the best nasty pictures.

Rats have taught me so much more about abcesses than I ever wanted to know...

Scott -- Are there any other scabs/bumps/scratches anywhere on him? It could be that if he has lice or another skin condition he could have scratched himself over-zelously and infected the scratch. A lot of times the abcess will form quietly and you won't even notice it until it bursts. Or, a cagemate may have bitten him (necks are a common place for nips during dominance scuffles) and it got infected.

 

[Scott]

Shelagh, you have all the best nasty pictures.

Rats have taught me so much more about abcesses than I ever wanted to know...

Scott -- Are there any other scabs/bumps/scratches anywhere on him? It could be that if he has lice or another skin condition he could have scratched himself over-zelously and infected the scratch. A lot of times the abcess will form quietly and you won't even notice it until it bursts. Or, a cagemate may have bitten him (necks are a common place for nips during dominance scuffles) and it got infected.

I believe those pics are exactly what I'm dealing with, although it's darker, looks almost bloody/raw. I hope that means it's fresh, not gangrenous or something.

I don't see any other scabs or irregularities. He and his cagemate wrestle and shriek all the time, but I've never known them to actually wound each other.

What is the vet likely to do for an abscess? Flush + antibiotics? How much does it generally cost? I will do whatever needs to be done but would like to have an idea ahead of time how many meals and assorted payments I may be skipping.

I'm a little worried about his vet visit and aftercare. Both rats were basically terrorized/unsocialized at the pet store before I got them, and I've had to be very patient and work with them to the point that they're pretty trusting and cuddly with me, but they're still skittish and will never be teddy bears.

 

[fenshae]

I dealt with a LOT of abscesses with my half-feral hoarding case boys that I dealt with myself. It'll be flushed and any dead tissue might be removed so it can heal better. Also antibiotics to help fight infection. Someone will correct me if I'm wrong but I think Clavamox is the preferred abcess med

As for cost, it should be pretty inexpensive. Unless your rat is REALLY freaking out they probably won't need to anesthetize...just a regular office visit + some meds + maybe a charge if it needs to be abraded (sp)

 

[Scott]

I dealt with a LOT of abscesses with my half-feral hoarding case boys that I dealt with myself. It'll be flushed and any dead tissue might be removed so it can heal better. Also antibiotics to help fight infection. Someone will correct me if I'm wrong but I think Clavamox is the preferred abcess med

As for cost, it should be pretty inexpensive. Unless your rat is REALLY freaking out they probably won't need to anesthetize...just a regular office visit + some meds + maybe a charge if it needs to be abraded (sp)

Cool, money's a bit tight right now due to our move and my own employment transition, along with my girlfriend losing her job when her boss (a friend of ours) died unexpectedly. My ratty will get whatever care the doctor recommends no matter what it costs, but it'd be a relief if it didn't turn out to be back-breaking.

It'd also be nice if he didn't have to get knocked out. I always worry about my various babies when they go under.

Either way, I just want him fixed. Poor lil guy.

 

[Scott]

Took him in to the vet yesterday morning. After a couple hours waiting for a work-in, he ended up getting his neck shaved and the abscess drained and flushed. It sucked because I could hear him screeching from the back, and his toenail got caught on a tech's scrubs and split, so they had to put styptic powder on it.

On the bright side, his neck looks MUCH better - it just looks like a clean wound now. He's on antibiotics for a couple of weeks, a pain med for a couple of days, and I'm flushing the abscess with a solution the vet provided. She recommended that I separate him from his brother during the early stages of healing, so he's not super happy about that, since they've literally never been separated longer than about ten minutes. They do still get to play together, though

He's pretty irritated with me right now because of the vet visit and the aftercare, but he seems to be doing all right. Hopefully he heals quickly and can get back with his brother in short order.

 

[M0onkist]

I suggest a lot of bribes to help with his mood - baby food like strained carrots, peas, or other things are yummy and always much appreciated by my crew - also baby puffs of rice (in the baby food section). Can bribe his brother too - usually my girls will accept bribes as a temporary apology!

It sounds like your vet did know what to do, and that's a great relief (it's sad just how many vets don't know the first thing about rats).

Here's to hoping your little dude Eddison gets back up and running in no time, and that the abscess has no complications or is slow in healing!

 

[lilspaz68]

So glad to hear that he's been cleaned up and he's doing better...the pain meds should help his irritation as well.

 

[jennifervb]

The poor little bug-a-boo!

I can imagine that he screeched up a storm during treatment... especially if it was on his neck!

My boys HATED anything requiring treatment in the head and neck area. Can't blame them, really. The closer these things are to your face... the scarier it is! :shock:

Get him some Cheerios! Those were always good for helping my boys love me again...lol. :bunnydance:

Good to hear that Eddison is on the mend!

I'm Jennifer (Jen) by the way! Hi James! Nice to see someone in my neck of the woods! (ok... I live in Manassas, VA which is about 5 hours from you but, hey, its doable!!!)

Please give your little guys scritches from me!

 

[jennifervb]

Shelagh, you have all the best nasty pictures.

Rats have taught me so much more about abcesses than I ever wanted to know...

You took the words right out of my mouth.... :sick2:

I should print these pictures out and hang them on the fridge.... I would drop my last few pounds in a week!