Question
My rat.
My year old male rat has mystery scratches that have progressivly gotten worse. Hi8s brother who shares the cage gets along very well so I know it's not battle scars. I have been crazy on the internet looking for answers and I've narrowed it down to him scratching because his back itches and it can not be fleas or lice, I've checked. I have kept the cage clean and given him vitamin E oil that I applied to the wound. Today I realized that it is more widespread than I thought and is about a 1/4 of his back and bleeding! Money has been tight and I was wondering what sort of bandaging or medication I should use. And if it does prove to be sever we might be able to take him to a vet but that is very pricy.
AnswerIt may be a skin infection which is commonly seen in older rats and rats that are a bit more chubbier than we like them to be:0 You can start by rubbing an antibiotic ointment on the areas for a few days and also dabbing the sores with some water diluted with an antiseptic solution. I like hibiclens. You can get a small inexpensive bottle and a little goes a long way. I would not let it go on for more than a week or less and if there are no signs of improving, he really may need a vet. You can save a great deal of money by not allowing the vet to do any skin tests and just have him give you a stronger antibiotic cream. Sometimes a topical steroid ointment helps inflammation and itching and oral meds can help too. Possibly an oral antibiotic to stop systemic spreading...but the costs are found when the vets want to test the skin by scraping it or doing a biopsy of the lesion etc...all totally unnecessary at this point and time. It indeed looks like an infection from where I sit though.
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