trying not to panic

[lindsayfawn]

ouch those staples look bad...reminds me when I had my second operation on my leg and had to have staples. hurt like an SOB when they took them out, can't imagine what a little rattie would be thinking.

Raina is still very active today but she has ripped out most of her stitches which I think she's happy about 'cause now she can scratch up to her face to clean herself. So maybe it was a waste of time and money to take her to the vet to have them re stitch her. There were tiny dabs of blood when I put paper towel to it. She doesn't seem to be in any pain though her sides aren't sunken in at all.

The little bugger decided she wanted to be a monkey and was hanging up side down from the top of the cage. She's so bad lol Hard to tell her she is supposed to not be so active when she doesn't listen lol

She's taking 0.23 of metacam once a day for another 4 days and 0.07 of Baytril for another 8 days which she has to have twice a day. She weighs 348.

Was such a struggle giving it to her. Freaked me out today when I was giving her the metacam I got it in her mouth but I think some got on her chin so she was kinda walking on the bed but would put her head down and push it along the bed to try and get it off.
I didn't know what was going on, kinda scared me didn't know if I hurt her or what.

edit: I forgot to add this. I noticed that Raina kinda smells like a ferret? Is that normal after surgery?

Here are some pictures that I took of her.

Mom I'm ok really. (day two)

Day two

Day three before 2nd surgery

Day three after 2nd surgery

She had taken a few stitches out by this time so she could move her leg more forward then before but still couldn't reach where she wanted. (day three)

Day four. See how she has it pretty much open again *sighs*

Eating some oatmeal with the girls. Thought it would make her feel better to have some breakfast with them.

What? I told you I'm fine, stop worrying mom.

 

[lilspaz68]

Metacam just does not taste good. That ratty chin rub is to get the nasty stuff off without having to lick it off. We often see this after meds

Thats a hefty dose of daily metacam. :shock:
Do you have the bottle at home? Is it the .5 mg/ml bottle or the 1.5 mg/ml?

 

[lindsayfawn]

On the bottle it says Rx: Metacam 4MLS QTY: 0.50
this is what the bottle looks like

 

[mamarat]

What a little sweetie.

 

[lilspaz68]

There's nothing on there saying mg/ml?

 

[lindsayfawn]

ummm....nope..not unless the MLS is the same as ML?
This is what is all on the bottle lable.

It has the vets name, addy, phone number, date it was purscribed, my name, Raina's name, Rx# 35298, Give 0.23 MLS orally once a day with food starting on thursday morning. Use up to 7 days to reduce post-operative pain and swelling, Rx: Metacam 4MLS, QTY: 0.50, Mfg: CDMV100496

That's all that's on the label...

 

[lilspaz68]

Hmmm.....if your rat was 350 grams and your vet prescribed the high end dose of .4 mg/kg and the metacam you have is the 0.5 mg/ml her dose would be .28 cc's so it sounds like your girl is using the .5 mg/ml metacam.

How much does your rat weigh? If she's 350 grams then you could probably drop your metacam down to .15 cc's soon.

 

[lindsayfawn]

She's 348 grams. Her sides don't look sucked in at all. Nothing like that first day I got her back, looked really bad poor thing.
I have to take her back into the vet on Friday for a check up to make sure she's doing ok.
So should I be giving her less of the metacam then where she doesn't look like she's in as much pain?
Also I was wondering if baytril expires? I found some that I had for Templeton, she never got to finish it becuase she passed away , should I just toss it or keep it?

 

[lilspaz68]

She's 348 grams. Her sides don't look sucked in at all. Nothing like that first day I got her back, looked really bad poor thing.
I have to take her back into the vet on Friday for a check up to make sure she's doing ok.
So should I be giving her less of the metacam then where she doesn't look like she's in as much pain?
Also I was wondering if baytril expires? I found some that I had for Templeton, she never got to finish it becuase she passed away , should I just toss it or keep it?

That is what I do, start them on a higher dose for pain/inflammation, and drop it when their pain decreases. For tumour removals I usually use it for 1-3 days but thats without restitching which takes you back to the beginning :doh:

 

[lindsayfawn]

ya, restitching that she's torn out already grrr lol

 

[jorats]

It's actually looking pretty good.
I too would decrease the amount of metacam. The more she's looking better, the less you need to give if any at all. I don't give metacam unless I see a sign of pain.

 

[lindsayfawn]

She just picked at it more and it's bleeding some, is there something I can do to stop it? She doesn't seem fazed by it but it can't be good if she's bleeding?
Just wondering why she smells like a ferret? never smelt like that before.

 

[jorats]

Is it just barely bleeding or lots? If it's barely, she'll keep it clean. If it's lots, apply pressure. If she's picking at it lots, then continue the metacam.
One thing you can do, which I've done in the past... I would stay with the rat 24 hours, stopping him from picking at it each time I saw him reach there. After 24 hours, it was healed enough and I knew everything would be ok.
Some people will wrap it with vet wrap but I find it only makes rattie want to pick at it even more.

 

[lindsayfawn]

It was bleeding a good amount and I held paper towel to it..doesn't seem as much when I put the paper towel to it...Do you know why she smells like a ferret? Is that normal? 'cause she never smelled like that before

 

[Willow Bean]

how is it that she smells like a ferret? Like musky? uriney? stinky? (trying to think of what my ferrets smell like) After surgery animals and people smell very different. I think it's what the use to sanitize the area for surgery. When my parents' dog was spayed she had a musky smell. I would assume that it's just the smell from the vet's office. Did the smell get stronger when you took her in the second time?

 

[lindsayfawn]

It stayed the same, the smell that is.
lol I don't know the smell just reminds me of ferret...like when you go to a pet store and see the ferrets..it smells like that...it must be the stuff they used to sanitize it...just weird that it smells like that
At least the bleeding has stopped now..it looked like there was a lot of blood in the wound...kinda gushy looking. I noticed 'cause she had blood on her nose from picking and cleaning. I wish she'd just leave it alone

edit: well was a stressful night trying to keep pressure on the wound. It stopped bleeding but I think when she goes to move her leg to scratch it kinda makes it open up more and bleeds some.
It hasn't bleed today but she seems more...old looking and will just lay in my hand when I check her out. She doesn't seem to be in pain though, no sunken in sides so that's good. I think its healing it's just going slow when she uses that leg to scratch.