Swollen Face and Lump! Back from vet! (new picture)

[KTyne]

I have been gone for a couple of days at my boyfriends house (two nights) and I just got home and went down to check on the ratties and Bijoux's whole face is swollen! :sad3: She looks like a possum.
I'm guessing this just happened last night or today because my brother takes care of my rats when I'm not home and he would have noticed if she was looking different. He loves Bijoux just as much as I do, and I don't think he would have ignored this.
I have her out on my bed with me right now and she's exploring like she always does, albeit a bit slower (probably because her eyesight is a bit hindered because of the swelling).
Also, I noticed her skin from her right eye to her ear looks really red and irritated. So could one of the other girls have bitten her or scratched her or something and this happened?!

The only medication I have on hand is Chlorpalm 250MG 60ML...
I personally don't have the money right now for a vet visit but maybe I could work something out with the vet's office where I can pay it in payments? Or borrow money from someone, like zee boyfriend.

I'm freaking out right now!

 

[Moon]

I am wondering if she has had some sort of allergic reaction, maybe to a bug bite?

 

[KTyne]

That's what I was thinking.
Here are some photos I just took of her.

Just thought I'd also add a picture of her cute little face when it's not all swollen..

 

[xxchelle]

Can you check her teeth?

 

[KTyne]

So I just went up and got Children's Benadryl and then went to the vet and got her weighed. She is 0.6 lbs.
The vet or assistant there was really nice! She liked Bijoux, and she actually took the Benadryl and the 5mg/lb from ratguide and figured out the exact dosage for me.
Does 2.4mL sound about right? That's what she came up with (she said it sounded like a lot to her but she did the equation multiple times and that's what it came up with).
Chelle, her teeth look fine to me, straight and everything. That's one of the first things I checked (sorry, I didn't mention it already).

*edit- and she actually gave me three free syringes (without needles, of course) for free! Since the one I had already wasn't big enough. Oh, another thing, the medication is 6.25mg/100mL, which is why I think the dosage is so high.

 

[victoria]

Her dose should be 2.4 mg. If the Benadryl is 6.25/100 mL, her dose should be 0.38 cc's.

 

[arresai]

Abcess? Which vet did you go to? Dr. Ross?

 

[KTyne]

Ok, wasn't sure if 2.4 mg or mL was it. The syringes are in mL.
I went to a vet uptown in Agassiz.

*edit- can abcesses spring up overnight?
Another thing, she IS drinking and eating still.
I've been able to get about half or more of the medicine into her, but she's slow going now on taking the rest so I mixed it with a little bit of yogurt. I hope it doesn't take all night for her to finish the rest!

 

[jorats]

That does look like an allergic reaction to something. I really do hope the Benedryl works.

 

[KTyne]

Me too. She doesn't seem to be too uncomfortable, so I'm hoping that it is just an allergic reaction.
Crossing my fingers and toes that it's nothing more.

 

[toeberto]

I can't believe how swollen her poor face is!

I hope the Benadryl takes care of it. Good luck!

Sarah
http://bentorats.blogspot.com/

 

[KTyne]

Thank-you! I'm not sure how long the benadryl takes to start working (especially at such a low concentration) so I'm not sure how long it would take to help the swelling go down. (if it is in fact an allergic reaction).
She's only about 5 or 6 months old so if I lost her now (especially since she's my heart rat) it would be devastating!!!! :sad3: :sad3:

 

[KTyne]

Omg >_< So I just found a spider crawling on my bed and freaked out. I HATE spiders, like... I FREAK out even if it's little.
Well I killed it <_< Sooo I'm thinking it's a very good possibility that Bijoux got bit by a spider and had a reaction to it.
Apparently there has been quite a few spiders coming out around our house in the past few days, so they must be coming out of hibernation or something? Lol. I haven't seen one since the summer time in here so it's really weird to be seeing so many so suddenly.
I'm REALLY hoping it's a bite that she'll be able to deal with and not something worse!!!!

 

[Roo]

Omg >_< So I just found a spider crawling on my bed and freaked out.

omg nightmares! anic:
I hate spiders too.
I haven't seen one since I moved to Canada September of '09.
*knocks on wood*

:thud:

Anyways, I hope Bijoux improves quickly! She's such a cutie.

 

[KTyne]

Ugh, I hate even just thinking about them. >_<

So, I'm still hoping that it was just a really bad bite, but she hasn't seemed to have improved at all since, even after taking the Benadryl. (Atleast, I haven't really noticed a change in the swelling)
I'm thinking I'm going to have to see if Mike (the boyfriend) will help me pay for a vet visit tomorrow. I also noticed that most of the swelling seems to be on the top of her head moreso on the right near her ear. I'm starting to worry this is something worse. :cry4:

 

[victoria]

I think a vet visit would be good if it's not improving. Like Moon said in chat, she may be hiding her pain. I hope the swelling goes down soon. :hugs:

 

[KTyne]

Definitely, I think she might be hiding her pain because I can't see how that ISN'T painful!
I have seen spider bites that takes a few days to die down, so hopefully she just had a really bad reaction and she will be back to normal soon. If she is still super swollen tomorrow though I'm going to see about that vet visit.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what medications to ask for if it turns out to be something else (such as an abcess)?
I love my vet, but these being my first three rats I don't have experience with him on whether or not he knows these things. When I brought Bijoux in before after I first got her for a check-up he seemed to like her a lot and he seemed knowledgable but you never know..

*edit- I just read here http://www.ratfanclub.org/firstaid.html that you can give a rat ibuprofin to reduce swelling? If you go down to their "swelling" section and read that it mentions insect/spider bites. I have no clue if this site is good or not though.

 

[victoria]

The two aren't contraindicated (http://ratguide.com/meds/respiratory_dr ... ne_hcl.php http://ratguide.com/meds/nsaids/ibuprofen.php) but Ibuprophen can mask an infection, so you should still go to a vet. If you're going to see a vet anyway, you can get Metacam from them, which is a bit safer. Is there any pus smell coming from her head?

 

[MomRat]

What did the spider(s) you found in your apartment look like? Do you know what poisonous spiders there are in your area? Although, I suppose with rats being SO SMALL, that spiders that aren't listed as poisonous to humans and dogs could still affect them... hmm...

 

[victoria]

It wouldn't necessarily need to be poisonous to cause a reaction, I'm very allergic to spiders and swell up a lot with any bite.