# post surgery care. Chewing on incision, seroma care



## Finnebon (Jul 15, 2013)

How can I keep Bijou from chewing on her two incisions? Both are in the same spot on her lower half from a tumor removal and spay. I'm trying the self adhesive bandage wrap around her middle, but she acts like it's difficult to breath and just "gives up" and lays there. But when I cut the bandage smaller and made it a little looser, she is still active and able to run around and bend and nibble on herself. I need to find a way to keep her from chewing since she is causing herself to bleed. I have to work for only 4 hours tomorrow night, but that's still 4 hours longer than I want to leave her with her condition.

She also suddenly started producing quite a bit of porphyrin after getting wrapped up.

What about bitter apple spray on the incision area? Would that dissolve the glue? I don't think it work work for long before she licks it all off, even if it tastes bad.

The vet said that since the tumor was so large, she had to lose some skin surface and she might develop a fluid filled lump called a seroma, but it would be reabsorbed eventually. What if its large? Would it need to be drained? Would warm compresses help?

Any advice would be appreciated


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## Finnebon (Jul 15, 2013)

I've also noticed that she has not pooped at all since I've taken her home about 8 hours ago, which seems odd. Would yogurt be helpful? She is eating and drinking, I think she is urinating, but no pooping!


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## Isamurat (Jul 27, 2012)

I always wrap the self adhesive bandage around, they hate it and look really misrable but as long as its loose enough to fit a finger in there then i'd keep it on. Useually i leave it for the first 24 hours, at which point the wound is normally healed enough it can cope with minor messing so unless they are really going at it i let them free. if they wont leave it alone and it looks sore from being bothered i'd put it on for another 24 hours. After 48 hours rats have healed remarkably well. Not overdoing the metacam/painkiller helps, them being a little bit sore makes them leave it alone more or just fuss it gently.

In terms of the not pooing i wouldnt worry at this stage, aneasthetic plays havock with there systems and it can take a while for it to fully sort itself out. If after 48 hours shes still not pooed i would take her to the vets but as long as shes eating, drinking and urinating the first 24-48 hours arent massivily critical for that.

In terms of a seroma, normally they show as minor swelling around the wound. If it looks very pink and swollen and feels hot it might be an infection (is she on Abs at all?) and that would mean going to the vet but as long as a seroma doesnt hurt when you touch it i wouldnt worry massively, they normally go down in a few days.


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## Malarz (Sep 7, 2014)

It's funny how when I want to post something, someone posts the same question just hours earlier. This is about the 5th time it happened to me here on this forum. Yes, I was about to ask the same question: how to stop rat from licking, chewing, and opening the wounds.

My rat's case is a bit different, since it is post neuter, and incisions are down on the testies, so bandage wrap is out of the question. My boy messes with his wounds all the time. The wounds heal, but so very slowly, and he aggreviates them any time they get better. I took him to the vet, got an ointment, and use it every few hours. We have another appointment coming up Saturday. In the meantime: any ideas on how to deal with that?


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

Isamurats suggestion on pain meds is the best one. we hate out babies to be in pain but if it sorta hurts when they touch it, they'll stop. Neuters don't need pain meds in most cases after the first day, spays need pain meds for at least three days in my experience and what I've learned from my vets. 

Another option is to request staples+surgical glue. Generally, they'll pluck a staple or two out then stop leaving the glue in tact.


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## Finnebon (Jul 15, 2013)

I was given the same suggestion when she sprained her leg and was told not to use any painkillers at all. I hated hearing her squeak if she turned too fast or was held wrong, but it did help keep her quiet and not mess around until it healed. She's on meloxicam now, but only once a day. The wrap worked great overnight and she didn't chew it off. She can't reach her incision either so I will take it off later tonight after work and she how she is. I'm releived I don't have to worry so much while i'm at work and that the wrap works! She is on amoxicillin now to ward off any possible infection. And this afternoon she pooped, yay! So I guess the only thing I need to worry about now with my OP, is a possible seroma forming and the care for that later.

Malarz, that happens to me too sometimes! haha
I've read that neuters can sometimes be more painful than a spay, but that really depends on the individual rat of course. I had my 2 boys neutered and the first night they were miserable little guys. But the next day they seemed totally fine. I just kept a close eye on them to make sure they ddin't chew. When was your boy fixed? Is she actually chewing the incision area? Why can't you use a bandage wrap? They look really pathetic at first and don't know how to move and just flop over with their legs straight out, but after a few hours and overnight, my girl is moving almost completely normally, she just cant bend down to reach her genital area which is exactly what I wanted. She just moves a little more stiffly with the wrap, but otherwise still tries to zoom off. Maybe it would still be helpful to try a wrap for your boy and see if it helps?


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## Malarz (Sep 7, 2014)

Finnebon, how long did it take for your boys to heal completely? Tomorrow will be exactly 2 weeks since Baloo had his surgery. He is not chewing the incision, but he licks it a lot, each morning his nose is red with blood. The wounds don't look very bad, and blood coming out is rather minimal, but they are not completely healed. A bandage would be hard to use down there. I don't know how you can wrap him around the genitals and still allow him to pee and poo.


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## Finnebon (Jul 15, 2013)

Oh OK I see the confusion now. You wrap the rat around his waist a few times which keeps him from being able to bend so he can't reach his genital area. Google "rat fan club surgery care" and you can read her article and she has a picture of a rat with a wrap so you can see what it looks like. I don't remember how long it took to heal completely, but I know that after the first night, they left the area alone. I'm sorry your little man is still so bothered by it! Try the waist wrap with a self adhesive bandage and that should keep him from fussing with it. When I get home from work tonight, I'll take a picture of my girl and post here so you can see what I'm doing for her.


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## Finnebon (Jul 15, 2013)

Hi Malarz, here's Bijou in her wrap. It worked wonderfully. I had a 1 inch thick strip wrapped around her a few times, and then wrapped a 2 inch strip around that to keep it more secure. it worked great and she didn't pull it off. She got used to it after a few hours. I finally took it off of her after I took these pictures, and she spent at least 10-15 solid minutes grooming, licking, and scratching the area haha.


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## gotchea (May 4, 2013)

I know this isn't the point, but I think she looks so cute wrapped up! Haha I hope she has a speedy recovery


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