UTI?

[Dazzle87]

I was handling Ember (1years old) and noticed she had an icky buildup of pee around her vagina/urethra.

It doesn't smell, and no blood (though I know the blood isn't always visible to the naked eye). She squeaks if I touch near there, but she squeaks if you so much as look at her the wrong way so...

My guess is UTI, and she will be brought to the vet on Monday. Can anything else do this though? I find it strange that it doesn't smell at all to me (the urine).

Also, don't worry, right after the picture she got a good bath, all the icky urine came off.

I don't know if it is my imagination, but I'm really afraid that this is why she has always been so squeaky. Thing is she's always been really vocal, so I just figured she was a drama queen lol. I'll feel pretty crappy if she stops being vocal after treatment.

Also, perhaps a stupid question, but umm, do their genitals vary a bit? She's spayed and nothing was abnormal with that but her genital area looks a little different from my other rats...

 

[hopefloats]

My phone must suck with pics becais the yellowish stff looks like open skin..puss like almost...what is that/ is it the pee

 

[Dazzle87]

Oh no, it washed off just fine. It was just pee.

 

[hopefloats]

It looks gooy lol that was what I was looking for....

 

[jorats]

Lots of water... hopefully she drinks and that could help her feel better. Also, Ibuprofen might help.
How old is she? Some old rats have a build up and it's not even a UTI. They just seem to marinate more.

 

[Dazzle87]

Haha yes it was gooey.

She's only a year but it's possible she's just not cleaning herself I guess. Hopefully I can find out for sure Monday.

 

[jorats]

Do you use aspen or other type of wood chip bedding? Some rats get that with wood chips.
At a year old though, I would seriously consider UTI.

 

[Dazzle87]

Not normally because I'm allergic, but I just started using aspen because I ran out of wood stove pellets and I'm very limited at what I can get without going into a pet store. I'll switch out to liners just in case though.

I'm fairly certain now though that she is sick. I got home and checked her out again (she would only tolerate so much touching after her bath earlier) and there's a small cut by that area. I wonder if she was biting on herself because of the pain or something? I gave her some metacam just in case she is in pain (thanks for reminding me).

 

[Dazzle87]

Well crap, I found this under bladder stones on ratguide:

Frequent licking or nipping at genitals.

My poor girly . I'm calling the e-vet tomorrow to see if she should come in (and I'm thinking probably she will need to).

 

[M0onkist]

Aw, poor darling...

I guess hoping it's a UTI rather than stones is not a bad thing? I hope for the lesser of anything - including her being healthy and just marinating more, as Jo said (and Jo, you killed me with that expression!).

 

[Dazzle87]

No hoping for a uti is fine it's what I'm hoping for. Thanks. What I read is discouraging . I'll let you guys know.

And yes picturing them "marinating" makes me giggle too.

 

[*Rebel_Angel*]

Marinating is a funny term in this context, Jo ur hilarious!

 

[Dazzle87]

Sorry I've been having Internet problems (I hate AT&T dsl).

So, no stones!!! We got an X-ray and all was normal, my vet even pointed out all the organs, etc. we also did a urinalysis which showed bacteria.

My vet is so sweet I could hug her. I brought Tilley in too for her uri so she just charged me for one full visit for the two of them. She also did not charge me for the X-ray or urinalysis! I can't wait to send her a Christmas gift, which btw I'm all ears. All I can think of us a quilt with cats dogs rats etc material...

 

[Bundyrats]

Yay! No stones. So just an infection then?
Your vet sounds great.

 

[jorats]

That's great! It really is nice to have a break in vet bills once in a while and I've noticed many vets will do this once they get to know you and see you there a lot.

 

[mamarat]

Sending healing vibes to your sweetie.

 

[Dazzle87]

Thanks for the good thoughts

Yup, just an infection, thankfully. I had really thought for sure she had stones from the amount of pain she was in and the self-injury.

Yeah my vet has cut me deals quite a few times, but usually on services, not "stuff" like the film for the x-ray. I love that there are vets like that, while yes it makes my life easier financially and I appreciate that, what means the most to me is it truly shows how much they care. Like today Tilley's euth was free and she's making me a clay pawprint.

She's only had two days of antibiotics, but she's already improved. She's no longer covered in pee there. She was so bad that even after I had been washing her it was building up (poor Ember).

 

[lilspaz68]

ooh neat I didn't realize Tribrissen was yet another name for Bactrim/Septra, etc?

Glad she's doing better :thumbup:

 

[mamarat]

I'm happy your sweetie is on the mend.

 

[Dazzle87]

Thanks .

Yeah this drug has so many names lol!