rat w/ swollen legs, post neuter, what's wrong? update 4/11

[Petunia]

a friend's rat is having some problems, can anyone help?


he was neutered on 3/24 and got an abscess a week later, which was cleaned out and he was started on antibiotics.
now two weeks later, he's got another abscess on the other side, which was also opened up and cleaned out, and then the vet added Baytril to the TMZ.
Both abscesses have closed but now his hind feet and legs are swollen, he does not want to walk around and his people are wondering what they should do.


is it ok to use Metacam?

should they use cold or warm compresses?

any suggestions welcome. thanks

 

[victoria]

Metacam has a pretty high high end dose, so if she has some on hand I would definitely give some. Is her vet experienced with rats? Can you get his weight and the dose of the TMZ and Batryl?

 

[Joanne]

It sounds like the antibiotics are ineffective in fighting this particular infection. I would get him back to the vet's ASAP. If he gets septic, he can go into shock and die.

 

[Petunia]

thanks

his feet are even more swollen now and his people spent all day trying to find a vet who would see him to no avail

they are still waiting for a call back for their vet, hopefully they'll get a call first thing in the morning!

they did give him some metacam though.

and a non exotics vet that they've used for their cats and dogs called in a prescription for a different antibiotic, so they're starting him on that, and praying that it works

 

[jorats]

This is really scary, there is so many things that can go wrong. Hopefully the antibiotics will work. Sometimes it can take a long time for Baytril to work on something like cellulitis. But I think it might be more serious than that.

 

[SQ]

While treating him, it would also be good to get the infection cultured so it can be targeted with the appropriate antibiotics.
I had some rats that only had a neuter abcess but the infection was a hospital infection that was resistent to all antibiotics except one.

I wonder if metronidizole, gentamicin, or one of the cephalosporins would be a more effective antibiotic to use.

 

[Joanne]

Did they get in to their vet today?

 

[Petunia]

the vet is coming in this afternoon even though it's her day off- so I am still waiting to hear back

I did get a message about an hour ago that the swelling in one leg is the same, in the other leg, it's worse



he's still not moving around but will eat when they bring food to him.

they have him on Metacam, Baytril and Amoxycillin, a different non exotics vet gave them the prescription for the amox, he had been on TMZ before that.

SQ. I did suggest a culture, after reading your posts about what you went thru with your boys!!!
I hope he pulls thru ok, they just a lost a boy after a neuter, he was only a year old- woke up ok afterward but then his heart just stopped and they could not revive him.

 

[Petunia]

ok looks like he's getting better, swelling is coming down. He saw the vet this afternoon and she thinks the swelling is a reaction to the TMZ, so it's good they stopped that, now he's on Baytril and metacam and amox. but the vet said if there's any stomach upset with the amox, she wants to switch him to metronidazole.

I sure hope this does the trick!

thanks so much for all your input, I am going to need to know all this stuff myself if I ever get a boy!
sheesh, they have just as many problems as the girls do, don't they?

 

[Godmother]

I am so glad that he is all right. I am actually more scared when the boys go in than when the girls get spayed. Seems like so many things can go wrong with a neuter.

 

[Petunia]

yeh I am wondering if I want to go thru all that......... is it possible to keep intact males together?

or does at least one of them always have to be neutered to avoid fights?

I wouldn't have males while I have females that aren't spayed but just wondering, for future reference

 

[Dazzle87]

Many keep intact males together, the important thing is being prepared to neuter if one does get hormonal. I personally see it as far less worth it a preventative surgery than spays, but see nothing wrong with neutering pre-emptively or for a mixed sex colony of course too.