Rat neuter problems

kittytango · Jul 17, 2010

So my rat got neutered last friday (7/10). now he has a hard lump in the area. I first noticed the lump wednesday, it got a bit bigger Thurday but it hasn't changed since. The vet believes it is just a suture reaction but put him on Metronidizol just in case (he was already on baytril). Now he has slightly runny poop, he hates the meds and seems very depreseed after taking them and seems less willing to want to eat after taking the meds. He hides and doesn't want to come to me. He seems normal until after he gets the meds then he sulks for hours and by the time he is normal again it is time for more meds.

I have tried mixing the meds in many things but he doesn't eat the food with meds in it.

I really want to just quit the meds and see what happeds. What should I do?

How long does it take for an abcess to actually form it it is going to be one?

Godmother · Jul 17, 2010

See if your vet will switch him to Clavamox instead. I had a rat on Metronidazole and she HATED it, no matter what I put into it. After a couple of days I gave up trying to make her eat it, and we switched her to Clavamox. Now she takes her meds with no fuss and she is doing better.

I once tried another rat on it. By day 2 he would not touch the stuff. Clavamox is good for post-neuter problems, so it is worth a try.

kittytango · Jul 17, 2010

So would you stop the baytril and metronidizole or just the metro, and keep the baytril and Clavamox? I feel so sad for him, he was happy and didn't even act like it was bugging him until he started the metro. Now he is depressed, doesn't want to eat anything but treats and wont play with his brother and has soft poops. He hides in his hammock and doesn't even come to me. Before he was always the one who liked me most and would run to the cage door when ever he saw me. but it all just stopped after the Metro. And the dose is 1 ml and it is so hard to force that much meds into an unwilling rat. Would the clavamox dose be less? he weights 13 oz. I just bought him and his brother a nice Martins R-695 and can't wait to move them into it, but don't want to move them until he is back to normal again.

I am worried because I had a chinchilla who had a small cut on his tail I took him to the vet they gave him antibiotics to be on the safe side, he stopped eatting, we had to force feed him and then he died. So this poor rat is making me crazy with worry.

jorats · Jul 18, 2010

It's probably an abscess which is very common after a neuter. Why was your little guy already on Baytril?

kittytango · Jul 18, 2010

The Dr. put him on baytril for the neuter 10 days post, to prevent an abscess.

jorats · Jul 18, 2010

Ah, that's too bad he still got the lump. It's also possible that the lump is a blood clot type of thing and needs to be reabsorbed.
In any case, I'd definitely stop the metronidizole.

kittytango · Jul 19, 2010

I stopped the metro and now he is back to normal! It took a 15 hour but I guess he had to get it out of his system and all. He is eating again like crazy his stools are more like normal (a bit sticky still but not runny) I'm so glad he is my favorite rat (I love his brother too but he is just so much more personable) I think I'm going to wait and see if it does develop and abcess. I was reading on "The Rat Lady" surgery guide and she say's that lots of times they can get sterile abcess from a suture reaction and they normally heal fine on there own. What do you think?

smilez_n_hugs · Jul 19, 2010

I personally have a rat that had a reaction to his internal sutures. It didn't bother him at all but I could feel the lump and warm compresses did nothing so I took him into the vet. The vet just put him on baytril and said it would clear up on its own, and it did.