Large head wound

Question
QUESTION: Hello,

You recently posted a question to Sandra Beasley in category Pet Rats:

My pet rat had a mysterious accident (maybe a fight or getting trapped) that resulted in her losing about half the fur on her head and a large open wound on the head as well.
I took her to the vet, which claimed to treat rats, and was one of only 2 in my area that did so. They removed the flap of skin and cleaned it, then gave her a non-removable Elizabethan collar which they told me would make it "difficult to eat or drink" with. So much skin was removed that she is in danger of losing her ear. They also gave me an antibiotic prescription which I have now been giving her for 2 days, and subsequently charged me $160.

It quickly became clear to me that she could not eat or drink at all, and that the collar would have to be removed. I tried making her a new removable collar with velcro, but found that, if I made it short enough for her to eat, she could scratch as well.
I looked online for any advice I could find, but there was little about Elizabethan collars other than that they should be used as a last resort. Realizing how little the vet knew about rats, I decided to take the collar off as a trial and see if she would, in fact, open the wound. She seems to have opened it - pus is coming out but no blood, and she also severely damaged an eye.

I'm at a loss as to what to do. I'm making her another collar now, but I have no idea if I'm doing the right thing. If she does need to wear this collar, how long should she wear it? It will probably take a very long time for the skin to grow back if it does. During this time, how often should I remove it to feed her and for how long? I can't trust the vet to provide any advice since she would have starved if I'd used the advice they gave.

Thank you so much. Any help is appreciated - I am really at a loss, and I can't afford a visit to another vet since the last one gouged me so much.

ANSWER:
What are you using to clean the wound?  
Was the wound deep enough that not only was debrided  but was it also stitched?

I am so hoping you  are going to tell me she is on oral antibiotics.  

And of course my next suggestion is to find another vet right away to tend to this wound before the infection gets so bad her eye needs removed.  

As for the collar, she really should not need one. There is no reason it should bothering her to the point she digs but it sounds infected which needs to be fixed.

Can you send me a photo?  Attach it here on your follow up.

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


Skinner   QUESTION: I've been cleaning it several times a day with saline solution, although the wound does not appear to be open anymore.

The wound wasn't stitched. The wound was more of a chunk of skin missing rather than a very deep cut, and the skin was already pretty infected, which is why I guess the vet opted to completely remove the skin.

She is also currently on day 4 of oral antibiotics (.1 ml Doxycycline every 12 hours).

The head wound seems to be healing up nicely, although it looks awful, but she definitely did a number on her eye, which is a more recent development. I'm not sure if the current antibiotic will be enough, but there are still several days left in the course of her prescription.

Here's a picture, as requested. It actually looks works here than it does in real life, but I felt like it gave the best idea of what's going on.

Again, thank you for the advice. She is much happier without the collar, and I don't think she's doing much damage.


Santana my one eye rat   ANSWER:
There is a good chance she may need that eye removed.  I would like to give you names of good vets in your area that could help care for her.  Please let me  know your location and I will give you a few names, no obligation of course.  Losing the eye would help things heal alot faster and trust me she will be just fine without it. The vet will fuse the eyelid together and you wont even see any eye socket cavity etc.... my boy lost his eye (he passed away last summer at the age of 33 months of age, losing the battle to heart disease)  but he lived with just one eye for over 2 years!

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

QUESTION: Hey,
The medicine I'm giving both of the rats doesn't seem to be effective. I'm pretty sure the older of the 2 is dying (though he is approaching 2 years, and it might just be his time), and the rat I sent you the picture of now seems to have an ear infection, despite being on antibiotics.
In short, I would love a good veterinary reference, since I'm obviously going to have them in on Monday and am NEVER going back to the last place I went to. I live in Athens, Georgia. Thanks so much!

Answer
Are you far from Marietta Ga?  I know a great Vet there.


I do want to tell you that your two year old rat is NOT old. It is NOT his time at just two. The fact that rats live to be just 2 is only true if they are sickly, but if they have been healthy their entire lives, fed a proper diet low in proteins so they do not have kidney problems, kept at a healthy weight to ward of heart disease and have been lucky enough not to have nasty chronic respiratory  infections, rats can live to be 3 years old and older, even up to 4 years old.  I have had several rats live past 3 to 3.5 yrs of age and   even close to 4 and know many others that have had them live that old as well, so I do not consider 2 years old to be closing in on the end of a rats life.  Heck, even a 15 month old rat that has been sick most of his life can  be closer to a premature halt to his life so its kind of hard to predict, depending on the rats over all health.

That said, if your too far from Marietta..you cant get any better than the facility below:
Dr. Stephen Divers
University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine
Dept of Small Animal Medicine and Surgery
501 DW Brooks Drive
Athens GA 30602-7390
Phone:  706-542-3221         
Website: www.vet.uga.edu/zoo