# Bad... or normal??



## Sky14 (Aug 18, 2006)

Not sure if this is bad or not but one of my rats's eyes never opened all the way and now its all rad around the edges. It doesn't seem to bother her but I'm a little woried. she is about a year and ahlve.


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## Darksong17 (Feb 11, 2007)

I'd take her in to the vet and have her checked out if she's squinty and has red eyes.


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## Sky14 (Aug 18, 2006)

Can't aford vet help and she isn't squinting her eye it never fully developed so it's smaller is all. The skin around her eye not her actual eye is what's I guess you could say is deformed and it's been a little red around the edge reacintly.


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## Darksong17 (Feb 11, 2007)

Sky14 said:


> Can't aford vet help and she isn't squinting her eye it never fully developed so it's smaller is all. The skin around her eye not her actual eye is what's I guess you could say is deformed and it's been a little red around the edge reacintly.



No offense but don't you think you should be able to afford veterinary care for your pets? I'd definitely recommend setting up an emergency fund that you can tap into for things like this. Good luck, hope she's alright.


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## Sky14 (Aug 18, 2006)

I'm only 15..... I can't get a job and my family isn't in the best condition right now.


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## Darksong17 (Feb 11, 2007)

Sky14 said:


> I'm only 15..... I can't get a job and my family isn't in the best condition right now.



But don't you think that is something you should have considered before you got the rats? I'd LOVE to have rats right now. I really would. I miss them so much. But I realize that I just can't do it financially, it's not a good time. So I won't get them. Not until I can save up a good emergency fund and things are stable for me. I wish you the best of luck either way.


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## Sky14 (Aug 18, 2006)

I've had rats since I was eight and I've had only one other bad exp. One of my boys a few years back got a really big and bad absess that took awhile to clear up but I did it without outside help and he lived to be three years old after his problem at about six months. Even if I could aford vet help I would avoid it if there was anything I could do on my own. Vets that actually have people that know how to treat a rat are not very comon in the santa cruz county and I personally don't trust vets becuase one of my freinds took his rat in for something very minor (she ate something bad I don't remember what) and they made him put her to sleep. So why should I save money that my family needs on a day to day basis for someone to look at my rat and say that she needs something I can get her and pay them when I could just ask on this website?


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## Darksong17 (Feb 11, 2007)

Because this website is not a vet. None of us are professionals. Heck we can't even SEE your rat. Small animal/exotics vets are becoming more and more common, I'm sorry to hear they are scarce in your area? If you tell me where you are located I might be able to find a recommended one near you.


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## Sky14 (Aug 18, 2006)

Santa cruz C.A


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## Darksong17 (Feb 11, 2007)

Sky14 said:


> Santa cruz C.A



Address: Ocean Animal Clinic
404 Ocean Street
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
USA

Phone: (831) 429-5100

Web Site: http://www.oceananimalclinic.com/


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

Does your rat's eyeball just look smaller?
Like this?








Lucine has micro-eye (microphthalmia) and sometimes she has a bit of porphryn (red fluid that looks like blood) around her eye.


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## JennieLove (Jan 2, 2007)

My boy Jay's eye is similar...But he had an eye hemorrhage, so the bad eye is smaller that the normal one.


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## Night (Feb 23, 2007)

Ocular problems can also be a main symptom with the virus SDA. If you guys don't know what SDA is, you really should become familiar with it, ESPECIALLY if you get rats from pet stores (basically the leading carrier of it). You can read more about SDA here.


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## JennieLove (Jan 2, 2007)

Well the reason why Jay's eye is like that is beacuse he fell from the cage and hit his eye. I took him to the vets and they made sure that the hemorrhaging had stoped, was put on antibiotics and later was checked again to make sure that he would be able to keep his eye, which he was


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## Night (Feb 23, 2007)

Oh wow, poor thing! That's wonderful that he was able to keep his eye and that you got him to the vet so quickly (good for you!)


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## JennieLove (Jan 2, 2007)

It was so scary! His eye had sucks right into his head! My bf and I rushed him into the emergancy room and by then his eye started to come back out. But I was sleeping when this all happend, I guess it was boys just being boys, one knocked the other down (It was a three story cage with levels though) My BF had heard something so he checked it out and I get a frightening wakeup with him saying "Jays eye is missing!"


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## Vixie (Jul 21, 2006)

Sky14 said:


> I'm only 15..... I can't get a job and my family isn't in the best condition right now.


You could easily get a job mowing lawns, babysitting, cleaning houses, etc. Be creative.

I'm 15, I babysit afterschool and help one of my guy friends mow lawns over the summer weekends and usually get 15 for edging and blowing a small fromt lawn(gotta charge for that stuff, specially in Louisiana heat, lol). I've got a signifigant amount saved up for my rattie's vet care now, and I'm registering them at a local vet's office this weekend.

My parents(though I realize not everyone's parents are as invlolved as this) made me get stable job(s) to be able to pay for everything. I've been extremely lucky up until now that nothing has seriously gone wrong(to the point of being in dire need of vet care), but luck is a fickle thing.

So, yeah, you can very well earn money at 15, just be creative.


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## JennieLove (Jan 2, 2007)

I love my boys vet! Hes so nice and half the vets in there have rats of their own so they all know what they are doing.


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## Sky14 (Aug 18, 2006)

No,no,no her eye LID is what's small. It never developed all the way. I think the mom steped on her and it got pulled open prematurely... 

I'd love to show picts but I've no camera.


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## nerdchick (Feb 26, 2007)

Your mom stepped on her? Then she should definitely see a vet. That's major head trauma and may lead to other problems down the road.

-Caty


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## JennieLove (Jan 2, 2007)

Who's mom? Your mom or the rats?...Either way if you see a problem with your pet rat you should have a vet check it out. Better safe than sorry. I hope everything works out.


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## nerdchick (Feb 26, 2007)

Sorry, I didn't read the "the". If the rattie mom stepped on her that shouldn't do too much damage. Rats walk all over each other all the time. Head stepping is a favorite pastime of my boy Lysander.

-Caty


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## Sky14 (Aug 18, 2006)

She's about a year and a halve by now and this is the first I've seen her eye get red. But it's starting to go away maybe something got in it and irretated it?


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## Sky14 (Aug 18, 2006)

Thought you'd like to know Sky's eye is all better. I can't even tell there ever was a problem.


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## JennieLove (Jan 2, 2007)

Well thats good news.


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## Sky14 (Aug 18, 2006)

O O
l
T T
l _____l


Like my smily face?  

Kinda creepy. lol


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## Sky14 (Aug 18, 2006)

Aaawww!!!!

....it got messed up....


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