Happy Halloween!

Some pictures of the crew:

Jeremy:

 

Hammie:

Bobo:

 Burt:

 

Ruby:

Update on Burt's Wounds

Burt (right) after his Staple Removal and Ruby (left)

A week ago Tuesday, Burt saw the vet. Turns out, the wounds on his back were very deep and pockets of infection had developed deep under the skin. The wounds on his thigh and at the base of his tail were healing fine, though. They looked nasty, but they were mainly scabs on the surface of the skin that were healing up.

The vet shaved his fur on his back near the wounds and drained the infected pockets, then closed his wounds with staples. We were given trimethoprim sulfa, an antibiotic that is very effective for infections of the skin, and some chlorhexidine antiseptic solution with which to clean his wounds. His weight had dropped considerably. Pre-neuter, he had been 720 grams. At his post-neuter appointment, he weighed 690 grams. At this appointment, he weighed 609 grams. The vet believed it was because of the infection that he was losing weight.

During the course of the week, while cleaning the scab on his back, the scab came loose revealing more pus underneath. I cleaned out the pus as well as I could and the wound scabbed back over again.

Yesterday, Burt went back to the vet for a follow-up and to get his staples removed. This time, he weighed 640 grams, so he was putting back on some of that lost weight. The vet said he was looking much better. The wound on his thigh was kind of swollen, but she aspirated it and didn't find any pus, so it may just be that it is near a lymph node and the node is swollen. We are keeping an eye on that. It should shrink with time. All of the other wounds look pretty well healed.

I am looking forward to the opportunity to restart introductions. Introductions with Ruby to the three new boys have gone really well during the time that Burt has been recooperating. The two intact boys, however, just can't seem to figure out why she never goes into heat and that seems to either fascinate or frustrate them. They constantly want to get a whiff of her lady parts and she doesn't want any part of that. But aside from such annoyances, they have all gotten along just fine.

Now that it is almost a month after the neuters, I think things will go much better for Burt and Hammie. Both rats seem to have calmed down considerably since the altercation that caused Burt's problems. It would be nice to have all five rats living together.

Rats in the News: Rats Are the New Dogs

Article: Rats Are the New Dogs from the Aquinian

Some good press for rats in Canada. I have always believed that rats are the closest small animal pet to dogs that you could get. I am glad others feel the same way.

Skin Problems - Possible Cyst - for Burt

Poor Burt. Things haven't been going his way lately.

As I posted earlier, Burt and Hammie did not have a very good go at our first attempt at introductions post-neuter and both ended up with small injuries. I normally don't worry much about skin wounds on rats. Rats heal extremely quickly and usually without incident, as was the case for Hammie, who is as good as new.

Burt's wounds, however, scabbed over. I was concerned when, a week later, his injuries seemed worse than when they started. I called the vet and made an appointment for him, but the earliest he can be seen is Tuesday. In the meantime, I gave Burt a bath (that he did not appreciate) and cleaned off the injured areas to the best of my ability.

One particularly large scabby area cleaned up rather nicely and ended up looking like this:

I assumed this was an abscess that had come to a head, but I could not express what looked like pus - not with pressure or with massage from a warm wet wash cloth. Burt really did not like me messing with it, so I went to the online forums for help and learned that there is a good chance this is a cyst and not an abscess.

I decided to leave it alone and keep things clean until his appointment. I do not know what caused the cyst or if it is related to his squirmish with Hammie. Maybe the vet will have some answers for me.

His other injuries look like scabs. Because it is unusual for injuries to scab like this, I suspect there is some sort of skin infection involved that may be related to the cyst or that may have caused/worsened it. The shampoo I am using a chlorhexidine shampoo to bathe him. It is an antiseptic that may help if a skin infection is complicating things. I checked his neuter site and that is clean, healthy, and unaffected.

Despite these issues, Burt has been a real sweetheart lately. His neuter has softened his control-freak nature and he is much more laid back than he used to be. He sometimes lays next to me and boggles when I rub behind his ears. He no longer paces along the cage walls or bites the bars or chews the tray when the other rats are out. He is calm and relaxed. If we can get these skin problems cleared up, I am hopeful that a second attempt at intros may go better than the first. In the mean time, Ruby is keeping him comfortable and happy in the lower half of the DCN.

How You Know It's their Favorite Hammock . . . .

Back Together Again

Burt and Ruby on the lower half of the Critter Nation, together again.
Bobo, Jeremy, and Hammie on the upper half of the CN - getting along for a change.

On Friday, Hammie and Burt got the okay to resume normal living with other rats in a normal cage environment and to begin introductions. They have recovered nicely from their neuters.

There is already a noted improvement in Hammie's temperament towards Bobo and Jeremy. I reintroduced them and they all got along fine. No wrestling, no fighting, no squealing, no hiding from each other. It was way more than I hoped for this soon. I cautiously tried adding Ruby into the mix without incident. That is a noted improvement over the last time I tried to introduce Hammie and Ruby and a very welcomed pleasant surprise. Hopefully, that behavior will continue.

Adding Burt into the mix was a disaster, however. Jeremy avoided him, so he left Jeremy alone. Bobo challenged him and got bit (but surprisingly, I saw no blood or open wound - just an indentation where the bite mark would be). After that, Bobo stayed away from Burt and Burt left him alone. But Hammie and Burt were a no-go - getting into a terrible fight that looked like one of those Japanese anime fight scenes out of Pokemon or something (where both contestants take flying angry leaps into the air and collide in an explosive confrontation). Both ended up with cuts that bled and that put a stop to any further foreward advancement with intros. I realized I should have left Burt out of the mix for a while - I rushed things a bit. I was just so optimistic by the positive results so far, that I pushed forward a little too quickly.

I plan to continue intros with Ruby and Hammie (with Bobo and Jeremy present), but will keep Burt out of the mix for now. It can take several weeks for the hormones to subside after a neuter, and Burt and Hammie are not ready to be introduced to each other yet. We will try again after some time has past, perhaps starting with Burt, Bobo, and Jeremy before going all out with Hammie.

In the meantime, Burt is really glad to be reunited with Ruby. They are living together again in the lower half of the Critter Nation. Bobo, Jeremy, and Hammie are together in the upper half. Ruby and Burt were snuggled together in the Critter Space Pod this morning, taking comfort in a safe relationship. I installed a brand new set of Halloween-themed hammocks in the DCN, but don't have it fully back to normal yet. There are still a few baskets, some lava ledges, and the wheel that need to go back in the cage.

One thing I need to watch is Burt's weight. He lost between 30 and 40 grams after the surgery. Fortunately, as a big squish of a boy, he could afford to lose that weight. Perhaps when he lived with other rats, he ate a good chunk of their portion of fresh foods. Living alone, he was limited to a single rat portion. However, I am beginning to wonder if stress may have factored in. He wasn't as quick to eat breakfast this morning, which made me think there might be something else going on. I haven't noticed any signs of illness and he checked out good at his post-neuter vet visit, so for now, I am just going to keep an eye on him and try to keep him stress free (no introductions or stressful situations) until I know that he is eating fine. If his appetite continues to decline, it may be there is something else wrong.

Post-Neuter Care

The Critter Nation with the shelves and ramps and most accessories removed.
Each level is closed off to make two hospital cages.
Hammie (top) and Burt (bottom), giving me the stink eye.

Hammie and Burt were neutered yesterday, and the surgeries were performed without incident. Both ratties came home last night. Hammie had already perked back up to close to his normal self (surgery? what surgery? why am I locked up alone in this boring cell?). Burt was a little out of it and I think in a little pain or discomfort, because he started chewing on the plastic pan of the Critter Nation, filling it with little black plastic shavings. However, this morning, he is much more himself.

Of course, after the surgery, there is a period of special post-neuter care. Our instructions are to continue this care until their follow-up appointment a week from today.

First, they need special living arrangements. They need to stay in a one level cage with only a low-hanging hammock, to limit climbing and stretching and anything that might cause the incision site to open or become infected. They need to be kept alone, separate from the other rats. I do have one smaller one level cage that I use for travel (longer trips) and as a hospital cage. However, since both boys were neutered at the same time, I would need two such cages. Since I didn't really want the expense of a second hospital cage which would not be used often, I decided to go a different route. I closed up the middle ramp of the Critter Nation and zip-tied it in the up position, then put the full sized bottom tray on the top level to cover up the ramp opening. I put the notched upper level tray on the bottom, but covered the exposed grate with a small liner, then a small flat circular weight from my husband's old weight set, then covered the entire pan and opening with a full-sized liner. I now had two separate cages. I took out the shelves and the metal frames that held the shelves, all of the hammocks, the lava ledges, the huts and space pods and baskets, and the wheel (which got moved to the Martin's R695 to Bobo's delight). I left the litter boxes and a single low-lying hammock. I also kept a cuddle cup in each cage, figuring it wouldn't hurt their sutures any.

It is important that the incision site not become infected. To try to prevent that, the cage must be kept extra clean. This means changing the bedding every day. Using fleece as bedding is ideal as it will promote less waste (just change-out and wash the liner each day) and it has less chance of dirt or debris finding its way into the incision site. I was told that a litter box with paper pelleted litter was okay. Again, it should be changed daily.

Both rats were prescribed meloxicam (aka, Metacam) for pain. They were given an injection at the vet's office and we were given some oral meds to take home with us. They will receive those meds once a day for 3-5 days, as needed. Hammie is already acting so good, 3 days will probably be plenty for him. Burt may need an extra day or two. They both have had their morning dose, which they took willingly and without any struggle.

The incision site must be checked every day. I am to report any swelling, discharge, or redness - or anything that just looks off. I checked both boys today and was surprised by how good the incision site looks already. Below is a picture of Hammie post surgery (not a great view as I took this myself with the camera on a timer):

In the mean time, in order to free up the Critter Nation for the boys, I had to advance the introduction process between Ruby (spayed female) and our other two new boys (Bobo and Jeremy). We had been doing introductions for quite some time, but the progress had stalled. Ruby is terrified of the two other boys, even though they have never hurt her or made any attempts to hurt her. She starts whining (a mew type sound) and sometimes outright crying (a more screechy sound that sounds like someone is getting murdered) whenever they get close to her or try to smell her private parts. However, I have no concerns about anyone's safety. We have been doing these introductions long enough that if someone were to get aggressive, it would have happened by now. But Ruby is not going to get over her fear unless she is forced to. So yesterday, we moved Ruby into the Martin's R695 with Bobo and Jeremy. She is still not crazy about this new living situation, but I think that after a few days she will realize that no one is going to hurt her and things will improve.