toe sores

Question

Jaspers paw   QUESTION: Hi!  You may remember me from a year or so ago, I have the rat with no fur.  that should have fur.  lol   Jasper.
Today I noticed the sores on his two toes, back foot. They did sloth off some blood, but didnt leave blood on my fingers, it was more like little clots. but he did not have these sores 10 days ago, when I trimmed his nails.  and they dont seem to bother him. although i dont know how they couldnt. I just want to know if there is something I can do, or if this is Vet worthy.  
I have attached a photo and appreciate your opinion.  Jasper is on a nebulizer treatment , everyday for the rest of his life, and I am really hoping to fix this at home, as he is at the vet, a lot. thank you again. ~Dawn

ANSWER: I sure do remember Jasper! I have him as a featured case on my critter city site, I do believe.

How is his skin condition doing,  btw?
Anyhow, his toes have a little infection going on.  Try rubbing some antibiotic ointment on them and perhaps an oral antibiotic for 7 to 10 days will do the trick.  I would avoid baytril since its used so much for respiratory infections.  The vet will know which is right for him, of course.  You can also try making up a mix of hibi cleanse in a bowl and dipping his paws up and down in it for a minute.  Rinse them off with clear water, apply the antibiotic ointment and keep him busy for a few minutes so he doesnt lick it off. Even if he does it wont make him sick so dont worry.

I assume he has chronic lung problems that requires nebulizing?

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Jasper   QUESTION: I am so glad you remember him. =)  hes my special boy.
His skin condition is the basically the same, except toward the back
of his body the skin has become very deep wrinkled an not very pliable.
it makes it difficult to clean him and if you try, he cries, but if I just pet him back there or lightly scratch, he grinds his teeth and starts grooming my fingers. ( so sad and yet cute)
Yes, he has chronic lung problems, every few days he starts squeaking when he breathes out. I put him in the nebulizer a couple times a day when he gets like that, and also hang him over my leg, with his head lower than his body , then massage his chest and upper back to help him out.
Thing is, he is still a happy guy, who eats about 3/4 of a jar of baby food a day ( the stage 2 baby food jars )  Unfortunately the last 24 hours he has not eaten and this morning I force fed him. I got some hibicleanse and neosporin. Im also putting warm compresses on his foot and lightly massaging them to increase circulation. ( he does not appreciate this...at all! ) Last night as I was cleaning him, I found a couple hairs wrapped tightly around the two toes. ugh. Perhaps this was caused by circulation being cut off. and it was MY hair. I feel awful.
Thanks for your advice, I have lots of antibiotics here for him, he gets them on a regular basis, so I will start one up again. Ive attatched an updated photo of him for you.
Thanks again. =)

ANSWER:

You got it!  The circulation was being cut off.  I ALMOST asked you if he has any blankets in his cage with loose threads as this can get tangled around digits and cut off circulation.  I bet my left arm the redness and swelling subside within 24 hours since you  removed the hair.  Hold off on the meds till I am sure the culprit was not the hair, which I am almost positive it was.

This is the "dangers" of diagnosing without seeing and the fact I did not go on my first hunch, but due to the fact your attentive to him, you found the hairs upon inspection and I am sure its soon to be resolved. Keep soaking it and putting the neosporin on it to ward off infection just to be safe.

What does he take daily for his COPD?   Daily antibiotics?  Steroids? Wasnt he on steroids for his skin?   

Over the past few months I have come to the conclusion that Jaspers problem has something to do with his autoimmune system because I have seen a few more cases a bit similar to Jaspers and it made me think of him each time I would see a photo of the other rat.  Jaspers case is the most extreme though, but he is a super Trooper about the whole thing, a real survivor.

Do you rub him with olive oil?  Apply anything in his deep crevices to prevent infection?  Is it dry skin in the wrinkles or does it get moist? We dont want to start some fungal infection going in those wrinkles like those  wrinkly dogs get, cant recall the name of the breed of dog but you know what I mean, I think. I am a rat person more than a dog person, LOL...but I was curious if there was an odor or what is going on back in the worst areas.   He is still handsome as ever.  Love me some Jasper the brave boy!

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QUESTION: He is not on steroids.  I cant seem to get a vet to give them to him.
its very frustrating.  I cant recall the names of the meds, Its not baytril cause hes been given that his whole life, and it just doesnt seem to work .

There is an odor coming from his skin.  its musky. and the crevices are dry, but they get gunk ( a brown or orange crumbly, cakey stuff )  built up in them and I use my pinky nail while petting him to "sneak" some of it out, but he cries, so I dont do much at a time.
I do rub him down in Cortizone cream every couple of days. Just to make sure he is comfortable and not miserably itchy or anything.
The breed of dog you were refering to is the Shar pei, not sure if the spelling is right though.  
The toes are not darker this morning, still swollen, but at least its not worse.  Ill keep you updated when there is a change. Thanks so much for your concern,  You are the best!
~Dawn

Answer
Ack!!  Danged Vets so scared of steroids.  I wish they would think  twice about that.  For pete sake (always wondered who Pete was, ya know? LOL!!)  Steroids CAN compromise the immune system. We all know this.  It does with humans and it does with animals.  HOWEVER....rats have a super fast metabolic rate and they burn through their meds like you cant imagine. Good example:
My wild rat Holly. A few years back she had a stroke, she was really going down hill fast.  My vet told me to go ahead and give her a hefty dose of liquid valium I had on hand to basically put her deep deep into a sleep....so deep she may just keep sleeping. Try 7 mgs of it.  I dont know about you but I have had 1mg of valium that almost put me into a flipping coma.  SO I give Holly the valium and hold her close. She was sleeping deeply, I could barely see her chest rising with her respiration.  I was certain she was going to pass.  I had to go to the bathroom sooooooooo bad but did not want to put her down so I transferred her to my daughter.  As I walked away I heard my daughter, who is an RN and could not believe we gave a 300 gram 7mgs of valium....and she said "mom...you better hurry because somebody wants to know where your going"  I turn around and there is Holly, eyes wide open looking for me.  I about died.  I just could not believe she was fighting it.  I did not give her any more but held her the entire night and finally brought her in to the vets around 6am (He met me there after he called me to see if she passed. He also could not believe she fought it either but wasnt shocked due to her fast metabolic rate. She burned right through that stuff that it did not affect her the way it would you and I.
Sooooooo.....the same goes for steroids. It wont cause their immune system to crash in a month, not even two months.  The benefits outweigh the risks.  This would also help his lungs too. You would be so surprised to see how well he would do with it.   I wish these vets would to some extra reading on rats, but they dont They only go so far and stop.  I know what I know because I have focused solely on these guys and nothing else, just rats and mice.