# Rat post surgery care - advice please



## Imaginary Evil (Jul 7, 2012)

My rat has just come home after surgery to remove a mammary tumour and a spay, and of course I'm keen to make sure she gets the best possible care. 

She's got a heat pad, which I think might be too warm for her as she keeps wandering away from it. How long should I keep this on?

She seems really groggy and weak but is slowly returning to normal. She's wandering around her cage a lot and sitting on top of her house and chewing it. Is this normal behaviour?

She's in a cage by herself for the evening, although I will let her sisters visit for a bit tonight. The vet nurse said that I have to keep her apart from her sisters for five days. Surely that's not right? That's a long time. They probably won't even remember her by then!

Also, I asked for antibiotics for her, to ensure she doesn't get an infection (although I'm being super careful to keep everything including my hands really clean. The vet only gave two days of baytril. Should I ask for more, or am I just being over-careful?

Thanks


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## Imaginary Evil (Jul 7, 2012)

Erm... she also seems to be eating pieces of her blanket. Although I can't tell for sure, she might be just chewing it and making holes.


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## ratclaws (Nov 11, 2012)

It all sounds fine, though most would recommend putting her back into the main cage after a couple of days. This is usually fine and helps them heal faster as long as her cagemates aren't picking at her stitches. If you do decide to keep her away for the 5 days she will be fine when put back in with them; rats remember cagemates and relatives after months apart! They can tell by smell and urine very easily; besides they will be able to smell her if she's in the same room as them anyway. It's great you've been given Baytril (I wasn't after my girls' spay) but it may be useful to also get her some Metacam; this helps with the pain. You may notice her stretching out when waking and her sides tucking in; this is a sign of pain.


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## Imaginary Evil (Jul 7, 2012)

Was your girl ok after her spay? No infection or anything?

I just let Bailey out for a mooch around my bed, and she's all over the place. Didn't want to go back in. If she's in pain she's hiding it extremely well.

I accidentally touched her spay wound when I picked her up. My hands are clean but I'm a bit worried she might get infected or something from that.


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## PeachPeach (Jun 22, 2012)

The pica (eating non-food items) is quite common with injected anesthetic. I wouldn't be overly concerned about wound cleanliness other than keeping the area dry and bandages (if she has them) free of urine.

Two days of Baytril is way too low, it'd be better not do it at all that do just enough to possibly make any infection resistant next time. Antibiotics are, in general, not a preventative measure. I'd hang onto them and not use them unless signs of an infection present. Parsley, honey, or echinacea are going to be a MUCH better step to boosting her immune system and don't carry any of the concerns of medication.

I also agree Metacam (it's an NSAID, generic name meloxicam) may be very useful to keep her comfortable, though rats metabolize it very well and thus need fairly high doses compared to puppies or rabbits. It can interfere with blood clotting and needs to be taken with food, but once surgery is over it works very well for controlling pain.


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## PeachPeach (Jun 22, 2012)

Rats are sensitive to heat. I'd put the heating pad under a corner of the cage and if she moves away from it, take it as a sign she feels warm enough. I'd also be ignoring the separation advice unless you note that her cage mates are bothering her. Once she is less groggy and moving around, my personal (and non-professional!) advice would be to put her back with the group and not separate her unless there is an issue. But I think keeping her alone may be more deleterious than the possible risks of her cage mates grooming her stitches out!


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## Imaginary Evil (Jul 7, 2012)

Hmm, I'm a little worried. She appears to be very bright eyed and mobile, and comes to greet me at the cage when I visit, but she hasn't eaten anything over night. 

I just put yoghurt on my finger which she licked off, repeated a couple of times but she decided she didnt want any more. She ate a little yesterday evening. 

And in the afternoon she was drinking loads of water from her bottle but hardly anything over night. 

Also she hasn't pooped since I brought her home which was 12 hours ago. Any thoughts?


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## PeachPeach (Jun 22, 2012)

I'd be assuming she may still be feeling ill from the surgery or medication. Tasty soft foods that are energy dense like nutrical paste, ensure, or the yogurt you have on hand are a great idea. Puréed baby foods should also work, as would lab blocks soaked in ensure to soften them. Just keep offering foods, if she isn't eating much I'd expect her not to excrete much, either (I generally think of rodent digestive tracts as conveyor belts - food goes in, poop comes out. Food doesn't go in, nothing come out. It is rare that this isn't the case  ).

Just keep an eye on her, but being playful and coming over for pets and scritches is a great sign. Get nutrition int her however you can, but the lack of appetite in and of itself isn't necessarily a bad thing, so long as she doesn't get dehydrated as well.


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## Imaginary Evil (Jul 7, 2012)

Thanks PeachPeach, you've been really helpful. 

I've given her a little honey mixed with evaporated milk this morning (not very healthy I know, but I'm just trying to get everything I can into her). 

She is lying as far away from the heat pad as she can so I've taken it out. The central heating is on and she has blankets, so she won't get cold. 

I'll wake her up again in a couple of hours and try her with more food.

I don't think she's dehydrated. I keep mopping up her pee with white tissue to check the colour, and it's really clear and colourless.


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## Imaginary Evil (Jul 7, 2012)

I left her alone to sleep for a couple of hours, and then woke her up to try and feed her some water, but she refused it  her pee is still very clear though. I must admit I'm quite worried


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## PeachPeach (Jun 22, 2012)

Try flavored liquids again. Some rats really like things like pediasure, for example. If after another two or three hours she is still refusing to eat it I'd be calling the vet for advice or dosing fluids subcutaneously. I wish I had better advice, but dehydration is serious and what you want to avoid.

Has she been moved back in with her cage mates, at least? That alone may prompt more normal behavior from her.


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## Imaginary Evil (Jul 7, 2012)

I made her a cup of tea earlier, and she had a few slurps of it. But I'm a bit worried that tea would cause further dehydration. Is this the case? Or shall I keep trying the tea?

She also likes evaporated milk with a little honey mixed in but she even refused that earlier.

I want to put her back in with her two sisters but they don't have ladders in their cage (they like to climb). She seems very mobile but wonder if that would cause problems with the wounds.


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## Imaginary Evil (Jul 7, 2012)

Minor step forward I think - I've just hand fed her some chicken, mash, sweet corn and gravy, and a little toffee custard for dessert. But she still doesn't seem keen on liquids.At the other end (!) she's done quite a few droppings and a pee, which was clear.Going in the right direction I hope.


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## ratclaws (Nov 11, 2012)

She's probably getting a bit depressed being left on her own unfortunately. Seeing as it's been a couple days I'd clean out the main rat cage and put her in with her cagemates, you'll find she'll probably start acting like usual. As for my girl, she was fine after her first lump removal, then after it reoccured and I had her spayed with the removal she was fine after a day. She did however develop a haematoma on it which is a pocket of blood where the body has tried to fill in the gap after tissue removal. Here's a picture, it reabsorbed on its own:

View attachment 20305


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## Imaginary Evil (Jul 7, 2012)

She's been out to play with her sisters for a bit this evening, but after 15 mins she went off and curled up in a pair of my trousers. So I put her back in the little cage. 

I noticed that she's bleeding a little from the wound on her side. Nothing major... it's probably because she was running around with the girls.

It's only been one day. I'm reluctant to put her back in the big cage until it has been two days. I'm gonna give it a good clean tomorrow and put her back in the evening.


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## Imaginary Evil (Jul 7, 2012)

I'm totally at a loss now. 

She's refusing all liquids and the level on her water bottle has not moved a millimetre in 24 hours.

But she's bright, alert, active, pooping... I just changed her blanket because it was soaked in pee (it's 4:30 am, how's that for dedication haha), and I used a white tissue to wipe some up in the corner and it was perfectly clear, not even a hint of yellow.

Any thoughts on this?


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## Imaginary Evil (Jul 7, 2012)

Does anyone have any more advice? I'm worried about her


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## cagedbirdsinging (May 28, 2012)

Try some water in a bowl or a saucer. I know my boys like to switch it up once in a while.

If she keeps refusing water, head to the vet for a subcutaneous liquids injection. Rats can go some time without food, but liquids are crucial.


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## Cstaar (Mar 7, 2012)

Do you have any update? How is she doing?


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## eaturbyfill (Aug 23, 2012)

cagedbirdsinging said:


> Try some water in a bowl or a saucer. I know my boys like to switch it up once in a while.
> 
> If she keeps refusing water, head to the vet for a subcutaneous liquids injection. Rats can go some time without food, but liquids are crucial.


That's what I was getting ready to say.  Maybe she would prefer water in a bowl. 

How is she doing?


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## Cstaar (Mar 7, 2012)

How is she doing? My rat Luna is going to the vets on Monday for what I think is a mammery tumour. I would like to know how your girl did post surgery so I know what to expect.

I hope she is well.


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## Imaginary Evil (Jul 7, 2012)

HelloSorry for the delay in updating.

She's still not great. Well actually that's a lie, in herself she's grand... Bright, lively, nosy, etc. but she had two hematoma, one at each wound site. The one at the spay wound seems to be resolving itself, but the tumour wound she took it upon herself to tear the wound open and drain it. So she had to go back to the vets last night and have it all glued back together. And the vet put her on antibiotics as well.

So I checked it this evening and it's still closed, but there is a tiny lump forming again  she's staying in the hospital cage at the moment so she doesn't run around and jump and cause herself more damage.

I'm a bit worried as she's been separated from her sisters for over a week, and it's looking like it's going to be another week. Will her sisters recognise her when she finally goes back into the cage? Or will they be picking fights with her?


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## cagedbirdsinging (May 28, 2012)

The new lump forming could very easily be an abscess from bacteria potentially sneaking into that area. Keep an eye on it, obviously.


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## Imaginary Evil (Jul 7, 2012)

Would the antibiotics that she's been given resolve that? Or would it need to be incised and drained?


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## cagedbirdsinging (May 28, 2012)

I do not have enough experience in the abscess world to speak further to that. As far as I know, post surgery abscesses are unfortunately common and the treatment is much the same as regular abscesses otherwise, but I'd prefer for someone else to chip in on that.

You can do some warm compresses and saline rinses at the site to keep it clean and see if anything will express.


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## ratchet (Sep 27, 2012)

Antibiotics don't do much to prevent accesses - and don't treat them. What works better is anti inflammatory supplements as it helps alleviate inflammation/pain in the region. Definitely keep an eye on it, and use warm compresses and iodine if you can to draw it out. Personally, I don't suggest "popping" an abscess as I work in the horse industry and have seen that just drive the infection deeper. 


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## ratchet (Sep 27, 2012)

Also you COULD have a vet aspirate it but abscesses naturally resolve on their own so it'd just cost $$ and the recovery would be much the same. 

You should readily be able to tell and feel the difference between a tumor or an abscess as abscesses are accompanied always by inflammation and heat to the area. The skin will be hot to the touch and usually very "tight" whereas tumors are relatively loose. 


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## Imaginary Evil (Jul 7, 2012)

I think I'd be reluctant to give her an NSAID, as the vet said she got her hematoma because her blood isn't clotting as well as it should post-surgery.

About these warm compresses... I'd be keen to give that a whirl. What would I use? If I were to use something moist would I risk softening the tissue glue around it?

I'd be surprised if it were an abscess as I've been religiously cleaning the cage and changing her blankets several times daily and making sure any deposits were swiftly wiped up.


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## dashielle89 (Apr 24, 2012)

Post surgery abscesses may have nothing to do with bacteria, they can be from a reaction to the internal sutures. Unless they are causing a problem I usually leave these kinds of abscesses alone and they will eventually resolve themselves, though they were never very large. If you do think it is an abscess I'd just leave it for now, and if it starts get look bad or it just isn't going away after a while you can start to treat it, and hopefully by then she will be more healed up.

If you really want to try the hot compresses right away, they do not have to be wet, you can heat up a cloth in the microwave for a bit, make sure it is not too hot first and use that.

Also, in my experience separating the rat from the others really does not do anything for them and is not necessary. Unless they are in a serious amount of pain and need to be kept from getting hurt by the others, or if they have a cagemate you know will pick at their wound, I do not separate them for more than a night, or sometimes not at all after surgery. If they are bored they will be more likely to pick at their wounds, and as you've probably heard, when they get lonely it can also stress them out more and just causing the healing to take longer or lowers the immune system. My vet will always tell me to keep them separated, but usually there is no point. It should not cause her any damage, it could actually help her. Keep a close eye on her at first if you're worried.

But either way her sisters will remember her. I have had rats separated for up to 3 months, and they definitely remembered each other without an issue. They do not forget each other as easily as some people make it seem. At times the pecking order in the cage may be thrown off when a rat is separated for a while and then reintroduced and it may be mistaken for them being forgotten, but they are just readjusting and it should not occur from just a week or two. Unless they are seriously apart for a long time or they didn't know each other long in the first place things usually go right back to normal. Let them meet outside of the cage for a little before putting them back in together, or better yet let them meet daily and spend some time together until they are back in the same cage, just to make it a smoother transition and so she doesn't have to be totally isolated.


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