Reoccurring tooth abscess in rat

Question
QUESTION: Sandra,

My 19 month old female rat, Sookie, has a tooth abscess on the right side of her face.  Our vet surgically removed it a month ago, but the wasn't able to get the entire capsule out.  She removed as much as she could, cleaned out all of the pus and injected some antibiotic to hopefully slow it's reappearance.  Unfortunately, since the abscessed tooth is a molar and not an incisor, our vet is unable to remove the infected tooth.  She said it's too small for her to safely remove.  Do you know of any vets in the Pasadena/Los Angeles/So Cal area that are able to remove rat molars?  Do you have any suggestions of additional treatments that might be beneficial?  She's currently on Enrofloxacin, though we are supposed to stop the antibiotic soon.  The abscess is beginning to come back, and I'm not sure what our next step should be.  She handled the surgery pretty well, but obviously we don't want her to have an operation every month, since the abscess will likely keep reoccurring if we can't get the tooth out.  A website recommended Grapefruit Seed Extract in treating tooth abscesses, but I have no idea if there is any merit to that suggestion or what the dosage should be if it is worth trying (not to mention I've always been told that rats are supposed to avoid citrus).  Any advice you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

ANSWER: I wouldnt waste my time with any kind of home remedies etc...lke grapeseed extract.  there are no antibiotic properties in it, and it wont do any good at all.  

As for the enrofloxacin, why would the vet want to stop any antibiotic when there is active infection going on?  Also, is there any open wounds on the rats face or is this all inside the rats mouth?  

As for vets in your area, there are several, and in fact one is in Westminster, CA which is less than an hour from you, but the vet below is also good, and ironically, besides exotic mammal medicine she also has a special interest in exotic mammal dentistry, including abscesses and working with small mammals, so this vet is perfect for your rat. Please refer to the info below:

Dr. Sari Kanfer
Exotic Animal Care Center   
2121 East Foothill Blvd
Pasadena CA 91107
Phone:   626-405-1777

Please let me know how it goes, and especially if your rat has an open sore on the side of her face.  This is very important that I know this, just so I can rule something.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Sookie doesn't have any open wounds/sores on her face, it's all inside her mouth.  She has a small, hard lump on the side of her face, but it's all under the skin (she is missing some fur, but that's because it hasn't grown back from her previous surgery yet).  The vet recommended taking her off the antibiotic before she knew that the abscess had started coming back.  I left a message for her about the abscess returning on Monday, but she's wasn't in until today, so I will probably hear back from her soon.  She started Sookie on the antibiotic when we first discovered the abscess, so I imagine she will want us to continue her on it since it has reappeared.

I'm going to call to set up an appointment with Dr. Kanfer as soon as possible.  Thank you so much for your help.  I will let you know how it goes.

On a separate note, I know you recommend Lupron for female rats who have had mammary tumors removed.  Sookie's sister Alice (same age - 19 months), had one large tumor and 2 small tumors removed at the same time as Sookie's surgery.  Can you recommend any literature or other info on Lupron that I could bring to my vet?  Alice was miserable after her surgery (she wouldn't eat unless hand fed and pulled out her staples, stitches and glue 6 times) and I'm afraid to put her through another surgery if she develops tumors again.

Thank you again for all of your help.  My furry children thank you as well!

Answer
Please let me know how it goes at the Vets. Please see my website, sandyscrittercity.com for info on rat tumors and the use of lupron and tamoxifen.  Lupron is for benign tumors and tamoxifen is for malignant tumors.

Here is the URL to my website and the page you should visit. It is my personal rat health care site.

http://www.sandyscrittercity.com/allabouttumors.htm