bleeding rat

Question

vaginal bleeding   QUESTION: Hi Sandy
Do you remember me?  You introduced me to Keith Contarino in Atlanta for my rat sniffy who had a bad respiratory infection. Well we moved to Az. and are staying with a friend of mine whose daughter also has rats.  She has a 2 year old female unspayed.  This rat was wheezing, rattling and sneezing a lot when I got here. Within a month she began bleeding vaginally.  I finally ocnvinced the mom to let me take her to the vet. The vet wanted to do x rays and such but I couldn't convince my friend to pay for that so the doc put her on a doxy baytril combo. .1cc of each twice a day. We were thinking it was genital myco.  The bleeding subsided almost immediately. She's been on meds since the 15th. However there was a couple of occasions that the meds weren't given on time but never skipped. Her last dose was given last night and she was not given her am. dose today.  The girl gave her her am dose tonight at 9:00 when she noticed the bleeding returned and it's back with a vengence. There is blood all over her cage and covering her vaginal area. I've attached images for your consideration.  My question is should we give her her second dose now or wait. What do you think?  
Hope this finds you well.  It's friday and vets are closed for the weekend and they charge 70.00 for a visit so a trip to the er is probably more and out of the question.
Any help you can give would be appreciated.  I credit you for saving my rat's life-I hope you can help this little girl as well.

ANSWER: Hi

I am soooooooo sorry this didnt get to you sooner. I thought it was sent, it must not have gone through.

Its hard for me to think that missing a dose or two would start the bleeding up again. In fact, bleeding is not directly related to a uterine infection unless you have alot of nasty odor and discharge etc...

The fact that bleeding subsided immediately doesnt really mean that the infection was under control as this would take at least 24 hours or more for it to start to work.

I am thinking she has problems internally.  has the vet checked for any possible tumors or even an ovarian cyst or polyps etc??

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

QUESTION: Hi Sandy
Well sad news. Missy didn't make it.  We took her to the vet and they said it was a tumor so we opted for surgery to spay her.  She made it through the surgery and woke up only to crash a short while later. When the vet opened her up again after she passed, he said her abdominal was filled with blood. Not sure what that was about.  I'm in Az now and not too impressed with the vets here.  They are outrageously expensive(the surgery was 250.00 and a visit is 70.00) and they don't seem to know too much about rats.
Know any good rat vets in Az?  

We are brokenhearted about Missy but we did do all we could for her.
Thanks for replying.
Kristin

ANSWER: SOB!  I was right. Damnit. I just knew it wasnt infection and of course if you read my response, I was right on the money.  Her abdomen was probably filled with blood because she bled out due to a careless Vet doing poor surgery, thats what.  I am furious.  No wonder I complain on a daily  basis about the incompetent vets in this world.  I wish these vets would keep their mits off of these babies if they dont know what they are doing. They are important to US, the rat owner, and they take it so damn lightly I am sick of it.

Now I wont say that spaying is not risky, because it is an invasive procedure and I do not know  what type of mess she was in such as what type of blood vessels were involved etc... but I do know that the second I read your message and saw the blood that I knew it wasnt infection. Infection is NOT bright red blood. Infectin is a smelly blood tinged discharge.  I knew right off it was either a tumor or internal abscess in that little girls uterus or on her ovaries. If I KNEW THIS why didnt the stupid VET???????????????????

Please go priveate and let me know the name of the quack you used so I can check their credentials. Where in AZ are you located?

ALSO do NOT blame yourself.....I am mad about the vet and thats always my first reaction. lately my temper has no fuse, I just blow when I read stuff like this and sometimes I put my foot in my mouth and things may have been alot worse for her than I realized, but still....the vet should have known from the start it was much more than an infection.  Also, rat owners TRUST what vets say, esp if they do not have alot of experience with stuff like that, so people trust their vet, and they SHOULD be able to. Its sad that we have to learn the ins and outs of Veterinary medicine for rats just so we can steer our vet in the right direction. If they are going to see these rats they need to know what the hell they are doing and not guess their way through.

I am just fuming right now. I am so sorry you lost your sweet girl. I feel like slapping someone upside the head right now. Real professional of me, huh?!!   :(

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

QUESTION: Hi Sandy.
Thanks for your reply.  I kinda thought it odd that she would die from a spay but then I don't know, I am pretty sure she had a myco infection as well she had been sneezing and wheezing for a while-I wonder why it never progressed?  She went from sneezing to bleeding which is why I thought genital myco.
Anyways, the babies are starting to sneeze now. Keep in mind these are not my rats but I care about them and so getting your opinion on things, I feel, is their best shot at good health.  The babies are 9 weeks I'm not sure how much they weigh but I would guess around 20-30 gms does that sound right?  They are really small. I know baytril isn't good for young ones but do you think I should start them on doxy?  As you can guess, I'm not taking them to the vet who perfomed the spay on Missy and I don't even know if my friend will take them to the vet-she just spent almost 300.00 on Missy. Babies are sneezing a little but nothing too dramatic-YET. We both know how quickly these little guys can take a turn for the worse so I thought I'd start them on a round of antibiotics. Dosing is the question here, how much?
If you could help here I'd appreciate it.  Also we live in Chandler Az. so if you know any good vets that don't charge a kidney I'd be interested in knowing them as well
Thanks and hope you are well.
Kristin

Answer
Check out this site:

http://www.aemv.org/vetlist.cfm



I would not start them on doxy either.  It is also not the best thing for baby rats developing bodies.  However, zithromax works on the myco organism very well.

When you say  sneezing...how much sneezing are they doing?