Rat infection in jaw

Question
QUESTION: Hi Sandra:

I have a rat that I adopted at Christmas from the Humane Society, who told me he was about a year old. He was underweight and fur quite dull, but within weeks put on good weight, shiny fur, happy, upbeat disposition, always bruxing the teeth, etc. I've had no problems with his health, other than an occasional sneeze or gurgle, until a month ago.  A month ago, he began making a bit more gurgling and some poryphin came out of his left eye. It has pretty well stopped and only a little poryphin from his nose, but he has lost a little weight (about 80 or so grams), although still eats baby foods and soft foods.

About a week or so ago, I noticed that he didn't brux his teeth any more, but will still move his mouth around. Last week, I brought him in to the vet for a checkup, thinking it was myco related. The rat is active, and the vet couldn't really listen to him very well; did a general inspection of him and said he looked good, and just to keep up with some antibiotics.

Then, on the weekend, I noticed a bit of an 'off' smell from his mouth and wondered if he might have a tooth problem. I began feeling around his neck and head. I discovered a hard, firm bump right under his jaw, where the chin is. It is firm, smooth, and I don't know how long it's been there as I hadn't 'felt' there before.

I took him in again today for a fine needle aspiration to see if anything could be extracted to determine what might be going on. The vet said it 'felt hard' and that he hadn't been able to extract any pus or blood', but that he may have just hit a lymph node because there's so much in that area.  The slide only showed 'broad scale lymphocytes', which he said indicates an infection going on.

But what bothered me was that I'd mentioned, prior to leaving the rat with him (who underwent sleeping gas so that he could perform this procedure) that I was concerned about a possible tooth infection. I can't see into the rat's mouth myself because he won't stay still to let me.  The vet told me that 'no, this can't really be seen; it's too small in there, and if there was an infected tooth, there'd likely be pus'. So, how do you determine a tooth problem or infection then in a pet rat?

I said 'what's the odd smell I get from his mouth then?'  He just kind of shrugged.

He's saying it could be anything; it could be jaw cancer, it could be another kind of cancer, it could be an early abscess that hasn't fully developed yet, or some other kind of infection.
Personally, I'm hoping it isn't a bony jaw cancer (the bone feels fine to me; it's the tissues between the jaw bones that feels swollen). He'd said an xray might indicate any bony growth, but even that isn't fully definitive.

But over $100 later in a week, I'm still no further ahead to know what's going on, and can't believe they didn't look at his teeth.

He'd been on prednisone with his antibiotics for a week, and I was told to keep up the baytril/doxy, but to cut out the prednisone which could be holding back the full development of an abscess, and that I could still go ahead and try warm compresses.

What do you think this might be? There is no swelling on the sides of the face; just under the jaw. His eyes are clear, his spirit is good.  He has no other indication of any illness outside of this swelling, other than some occasional poryphin, some rare upper respiratory noise, and the fact that he's lost a little weight, which I'd atrributed to his possibly not eating as much if his mouth is bothering him.

Any suggestions you can offer are appreciated. These are not exotic vets and I don't have any in my immediate area.

I'm just hoping that if it's an abscess or jaw cyst of some kind, that it opens and drains on its own soon. I'd hoped that the needle aspiration today could help do that.

Now I don't know what to think, but I'm worried about my little guy.

Thanks for your time.

ANSWER: It does sound like she may have an abscess in the root of the bottom tooth, but its hard to say. Xrays should have been taken to be honest.  

It may burst but this will be a real nasty pain to get rid of and sometimes requires the extraction of the tooth itself to get rid of infection.  I have had rats that have had their teeth pulled and they did just fine. They ate softer foods but still did great!!

My question is this:  is your vet an avian/exotic Vet or a vet that sees dogs and cats and pocket pets on the side?  Sometimes that makes a difference in how far a vet will go when it comes to more difficult cases.  In this case, its not a difficult case at all for someone familiar with rodents and their teeth and the problems that may arise from them. An abscess like that is common, will cause pain and the rat may even not want to eat well. The odor you smell is for sure infection, its an unmistakable odor.  The medication MAY help if its the right antibiotic which is usually bactrim since it is made to penetrate the pus from an abscess. Problem is baytril and doxy are just not the right choice of drug for treating an abscess.  You dont want to stop the baytril since she just had a respiratory infection and in fact I suggest a rat with mycoplasmosis pulmonis be treated for life on a daily dose of baytril to prevent relapse, but a second antibiotics for the abscess can be given.

If the slide showed infection, it only stands to reason there is an abscess below the gum line and they are super hard to treat without the right antibiotic.  


Have you thought of trying a different vet for another opinon?

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

QUESTION: Yes, I'd also brought home a bottle of Chlorpalm 250, but the vet said to just stay with the doxy and baytril. I'd be willing to switch antibiotics; if you say Bactrim works well, I will ask about this.

Today his jaw must be sore from all the needle prodding. No, they are nt exotic vets; mostly farm and cat/dog vets who see other types of animals on the side. I suppose they are doing what they know, but I often feel that I bring more detailed info with me when I go to see them, as I'm always researching stuff to try and find out information.

If worse comes to worse, and this does not go down in the next week or so, I will ask some friends in the city, who have rats there, if one of their rat vets will look into his mouth for me.

Is Bactrim a pencillin-based anti-biotic?

I sure hope it's just an abscess.  All this talk about possible cancer is frightening, but to me, he's too healthy looking; all of his other lymph nodes everywhere else are normal...and if something that serious was going on to inflame his chin, wouldn't it also show in other nodes? His eyes are bright; he's eating willingly at a reasonable level; he's grooming; his fur is thick and shiny and nice. He's just a little underweight, so I'm going to go get him some Ensure, and he's eating soft baby foods (meats, veg, fruits, custard) as well as Pablum with soy milk, brown rice milk, soft pasta, cooked rice, cooked egg, pro-biotic yogurt, etc.

I really appreciate your time and help.  His mouth didn't smell much tonight, but I will be keeping a close eye on him.

Thank you for all your help!

Answer
Bactrim is a sulfa based drug.

As for cancer, this is not a common area for it, esp if it is in the root of the tooth or base of the gums.  The most common type of cancer that occurs is that of the Auditory Sebaceous Gland / Zymbals gland.  This is located usually on the face beside the ear.  You can read more about it on my website as well as see photos of these nasty cancerous and deadly tumors.  They start out as an abscess on the side of the face by the ear but they dont clear up and contiue to grow and eat away at the rats face. Its a devastating condition with no real cure, only treated according to symptoms.

http://www.freewebs.com/crittercity/allabouttumors.htm

Also, what is your location? I would like to look at my database and see where the nearest exotic vet or even a vet that has a strong interest in exotics is located at just to see how close one is that you may not know about.  Its worth a look at least, I dont mind checking it out for you, no obligation to see them at all, just to have names of some would be fine.