Question
Possible Prolapsed Ute
Okay, my daughter and I have done a really dumb thing! My daughter found a pink, hairless, life-less wet baby rat in our yard almost two years ago and she convinced me to allow her to nurse it back to health. She did and we have since found out that it is a Norwegian Roof Rat. It lives comfortably in a cage at our house, and my daughter handles it daily.
On two occasions we have tried to release it into the wild, but both times we've failed. Once, because the site we chose was stricken with a drought, and once, well, because we have managed to fall in love with this little critter and sobbed at the thought of it entering the food chain.
Now "Herman" is two years old, and we discovered two days ago that what we had thought was a penis seems to instead be the genital papilla of a female. We think this because "Herman" (now called Hermonie) has a big bulbous red balloon protruding from directly behind her genitalia. From pictures I've located on the Internet, it may be a prolapsed uterus.
I've contacted our vet who has taken care of our Rottweilers for the past eight years, and the "exotic" vet there won't touch Hermonie. Can you help? Might you possibly be able to find us someone in our area who could help diagnose the problem and potentially help with it? We're hoping that we can find someone who will help very reasonably as I'm currently unemployed and this is, after all, a wild rat. (She's tame and sweet and adorable with us, but will likely not take too kindly to strangers.)
We live in Oakland, California. My vet is Bishop Ranch Vets in San Ramon, Ca. I would even be willing to contact a veterinarian school to offer up Hermonie as a potential training rat to push the prolapse back into the vagina and stitch her up.
Thanks so much for your help and recommendation or any suggestions you might have.
The protrusion does not appear to be infected at this point and is not bleeding, but she is clearly favoring her groin by not sitting or moving as quickly as usual. She appears to be defecating and urinating normally at this point.
AnswerFor starters, shame on the vet that wont see this little girl!!! I do want to clear up any misconceptions you have about wild rats. You have a Norway rat. The rats that you buy at the pet store are NO DIFFERENT than wild rats. I bet you didn't know that Norway rats are the same rats we buy at pet stores, they are just domesticated due to the fact they were introduced to humans so they don't fear them. If you buy a rat from the pet store that was not properly socialized, you would think it was wild because they are terrified of humans by nature, which is why its vital to handle baby rats from the time they are born or else they will be very scared of humans and it takes some time to get them used to people. My rats were bred by a very good breeder but because I am the only one that handles them, they are very shy of strangers and will hide from people. I have some rats that love everyone and others who are scared to death and never warm up to anyone but me. Norway rats and domestic rats are made up the same. I rescued and raised a rat that was once wild. She was the best rat I ever had and she was also NOT scared of people.
My advice is to try one of the vets below, but just do not offer any information that you found her outdoors. Your rat does NOT carry any type of disease or germ that any other domesticated rat would carry. Rabies? Ridiculous. If this vet would even think there was a chance your rat had rabies would make me have to ask this vet to go back to school again.
Your girl needs spayed. This will resolve the prolapse. However, at her age, I would be a bit skeptical. She could also be treated with medication. She may even have a tumor inside that is pushing her uterus out. Does she act ok as far as eating etc? I would like to see a full picture of her. Once again, Your rat is NOT a wild rat. She has been raised by humans, which makes her tame. This is the same as having a cat that is tame but had she been raised outside with limited contact with humans, the cat would be considered wild, or rather, "feral" and yet Vets WILL treat feral cats, if they can be caught, that is.
Anyhow, here are a few names of Vets to take her to see. I do not call it "a stupid thing" that you found this little rat and saved her life and gave her a happy life as your pet rat. You are both lucky. She is lucky to have been saved and you are lucky to have her as your pet!!!!
Please look at my website, sandyscrittercity.com and check out my rats photos by going to the page ABOUT ME and also the page on caring for elderly rats. Read up about my girl, Holly. She was a Norway rat and my vet took care of her, no problem at all. Again, just simply don't offer the info that you found her etc.... if your asked, which I DOUBT, just say you "picked her up somewhere, that was 2 years ago, for Pete sake, you cant remember! LOL ! I GUARANTEE the vet will not jump up and shout "OMG! A WILD RAT! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" If you dont say a peep, they wont know. I promise. Cross my heart.
Anyhow, I have a few things to do this morning but will get back to you with some names of vets that are REAL VETS who will check out your little rat for you and hopefully help her to the best of their ability. You cant be sure of her age, but know you have had her for 2 years. When you found her, were her eyes open etc...?You said she had no fur...can you recall how long it took for fur to come in? This may help figure out her age. She could be a few months older than you think....but if she was sick, she may have looked younger. Send me as many photos as you can to sandyscrittercity@yahoo.com so I can marvel at your lucky little girl! You can post one here of her too but I would like to see several. I assume she is brown with some black ticking on her fur? She may be black too....I have a black rat now and usually always have a black rat. I love black rats. They are beautiful and even though this sounds kind of silly, all of my black rats have had wonderful personalities, very funny and entertaining!
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