# Rat has hole in face, help QUICK *GRAPHIC*



## Picklepaige (Nov 10, 2013)

Bubblegum, one of my rats, has a huge hole in her face. All her life her left eye has been red and runny, and it would slightly swell some days and go back to normal others, but a couple of days ago, when I went to feed them breakfast, I noticed it was horrifically swollen, much, much more than usual. I took her to the vet, where he said it wasn't an abscess because it was hard and he couldn't drain it, and he thinks it's either an infection or a tumor. I have antibiotics to give her. This morning when I woke up, I noticed in the middle of the swelling was a huge hole. It is DEEP. I don't know if it burst on its own, or if Elsa, her cagemate, tried to groom her and ruptured it. She doesn't seem to be in any pain. I'm taking her to the vet tomorrow (closed today), but in the meantime, does anyone on here know what this could be? She's acting the same, eating fine and being active. She is two years old.


For reference, this is what her eye normally looks like when she's having a "bad" day.








You can see her left eye is red and a bit swollen. It's been like this on and off since I got her.


This is what her eye looked like a couple of days ago, when it was really swollen. This popped up overnight, it didn't gradually get this bad.






And this is what it looks like now. *WARNING THIS IS GRAPHIC*



Does anyone have any second opinions. I am so upset, I love this little girl


----------



## Marie5656 (Jun 1, 2014)

Do you have an emergency vet in you area? I would take her. Poor thing. I know you are scared, I would be too


----------



## cagedbirdsinging (May 28, 2012)

First off, don't panic. It looks worse than it probably is.

It looks to me like an abscess that has ruptured. If you can mix up some saline solution (http://chemistry.about.com/od/labrecipes/a/How-To-Make-Saline-Solution.htm), you want to flush the wound with it a few times today to keep it nice and clean.

Your vet will probably flush the wound, examine it, and prescribe antibiotics. If this is an abscess, the most important thing is to not allow it to scab over. That will trap the bacteria inside and recreate the abscess, causing the entire process to start over. It has to be flushed several times per day to keep it clean and allow it to heal from the inside out.

Your vet will also want to examine her teeth to see if the abscess has harmed them in any way. Cheek/jaw abscesses can cause teeth to fall out.

For now, try not to worry.

Edit: Somehow missed the fact that your vet said it wasn't an an abscess. What all did he do to determine that? It really, really looks like that's what it was. Tumors don't just fall out. I'd go to another vet and see what they say.


----------



## Marie5656 (Jun 1, 2014)

OK, cagedbirdsings posted same time as me. Go her route. Sorry for my semi paniced response


----------



## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

So very sorry but that is not an abscess. An abscess cavity would be deep and full of pus, it empties out and drains then fills up again. This has a lot of blood and muscle. Sadly this is a tumour. 
Her eye is gone, possibly full of infectoin but you can see its yellow in the pictures. Rats are prey animals and do not like to show pain or illness but she is probably very uncomfortable just from the pressure.

Your sweetie is not fixable. The best thing to do for her is to have her humanely put to sleep before she starts to suffer. :'(

Facial tumours suck, I have lost a lot of rescues to them


----------



## SGxyz (Jun 25, 2014)

Hey Paige, I have no advice but I've been thinking of your poor Bubblegum. Just wanted to say I hope your visit to the vet goes well, please keep us updated <3


----------

