Owie, owie, owie! Tail degloved **Pic two weeks post injury

[Joanne]

I heard a ruckus, lots of screaming and went to check. This has happened before with no obvious injuries, but always in the same area of the cage, so I wondered if someone was getting something stuck. Today I saw that Ivy, one of Petunia's babies, had lost the skin off the last 1.5 cm of her tail! Ow!
I went looking for the piece where I thought that maybe they were getting pinched underneath the ramp ladder or something, but I couldn't find it there. Then on spec I thought I would check the adjacent cage. Yup, there it was. Penelope was the cause of the injury. My fault, the cages need to be further apart. Done.
Now I have a baby with a sore tail. There aren't any of my 'rat' vets working this weekend. I have some metacam at home. Is it safe to give babies Metacam? She is 7.5 weeks old.
Her weight is 146g, so at a dose of 1 mg/kg and the drug being 1.5 mg/ml, I calculate a dose of 0.1 ml.
As far as antibiotics go, I was just going to monitor it, as it is in a highly cleansable area. I think before that someone else just let it dry up and fall off?
Pics coming - my batteries died.

 

[lilspaz68]

Definitely metacam! Tails hurt like crazy! I have given much younger babies metacam...Gonzo for example who stuck his face through the bars of a cage and got his muzzle bitten badly

I am getting .12 cc but .1 cc is just fine too...

 

[hopefloats]

aww poor girl! That does hurt. That is one of the one things that will make my rats scream out in pain. Hope she heals fast!

 

[Joanne]

OK, baby dosed with some Metacam. She seems fine otherwise. Poor Ivy...

 

[lilspaz68]

OK, baby dosed with some Metacam. She seems fine otherwise. Poor Ivy...

she will probably only need that initial dose, and she will heal very fast, even faster because she's young.

 

[Joanne]

I thought by having the cages close together they could interact a bit (seeing as how they've been here for over a month), but I guess protecting one's territory has priority. Ug!

 

[Joanne]

Pictures for the curious:

Ivy's tail a couple of hours after the incident. You can actually see the segments of bone in her tail, and maybe a ligament?

The missing piece of tail, found in the adjacent cage (Bad Penelope!):

24 hours after the incident:

She seems to be recovering well and is acting normally. I did give her another dose of Metacam today, just in case.

 

[lilspaz68]

Yeah looks like ligament...it should dry up and she'll either chew it off or it will fall off like Lilith's did. Poor sweetie, but the worst is over. :heart:

 

[hopefloats]

I don't know why those pictures with the piece of a tail is so insane looking. I am glad that she is doing better now.

 

[lilspaz68]

I don't know why those pictures with the piece of a tail is so insane looking. I am glad that she is doing better now.

Its a cold fleshy envelope...I thought of squid when I held Lilith's...rubbery *eww*

 

[hopefloats]

That gave me the heebies jeebies!

 

[lilspaz68]

That gave me the heebies jeebies!

NOW do you see why I flushed Lilith's much to the dismay of some people...haha.

Joanne what did you do with the tail bit?

 

[mamarat]

Ouch! poor baby. They do heal fast though.

 

[thefriggintribe]

Awww.... poor little thing.

:heart:
Sending lots of love & ratty kisses.

 

[Aida]

AAHHHHHH!!!! :sad3:
Holy cow! I did not expect THAT! :thud:

It kind of looks like the cartoon-y skeletons, lol.
Poor baby. DDx

 

[Dahlas]

happened to one of my foster babies.....Shelagh talked me through it :hugs: ....it healed really fast....and she just ended up with a little blunt tail....no tip....never seemed to bother her.....all I gave her was the initial dose of metacam...

Give her some goodies and she will forget pretty quick...

 

[Joanne]

Joanne what did you do with the tail bit?

Now that you mention it, I think it's sitting on top of my distiller. Hahahaha!
Guess I should probably throw it in the composte. :emb:

 

[jennifervb]

Pictures for the curious:

Ivy's tail a couple of hours after the incident. You can actually see the segments of bone in her tail, and maybe a ligament?

The missing piece of tail, found in the adjacent cage (Bad Penelope!):

24 hours after the incident:

She seems to be recovering well and is acting normally. I did give her another dose of Metacam today, just in case.

OW!!!!!!!!! That looks TERRIBLE!!!!!!!!! ((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((Little Ivy)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
Now that is just plain MEAN! (Penelope....we need to discuss you....) :stickpoke: :thumbdwn:

 

[*Rebel_Angel*]

Owie! poor sweetheart!!

 

[Joanne]

More pictures:
Day 2 (48+ hours)

And then tonight, Day 3 (72+ hours)

She is acting normally, and showing no signs of discomfort. The skin is looking better, and has lost most of its redness. Still a pointy piece of the bone at the end though!