Rat with spinal injury, blood in urine.

Question
Hi Sandra,

My sweet 5-month-old boy Treble was euthanised a couple nights ago without much explaination. I feel I need some "closure" so I'd appreciate if you could read my story and possibly offer advice

Basically my partner and I found Trebs injured in our bedroom on Saturday morning; we're unsure what happened but guessing he'd gotten into the open wardrobe, climbed up to the top shelves (he's done this before), but fallen, and landed pretty hard 6-7 feet down. It appeared he'd broken his back and possibly one of his hind legs. He could barely move - only by waving one of his front paws around randomly and just dragging himself in a circle.  His back feet and tail were totally limp. He didn't squeak when we picked him up, and there were no jutting bones/lumps or swelling to be seen.  We kept him in his own box with blankets and a heated wheat-bag against his back. He'd drink water out of a spoon and lick soft foods from our fingers but not much else.

I'd read about so many rat-injury cases online and it seemed as though Trebs would come right eventually; as long as we kept him warm and he was still eating and drinking. His face looked lively enough and he was still sniffing away as normal, but the next day I searched for an after-hours vet, finally calling the cellphone number of a vet recommended by a fellow rat-lover. I told him the situation and he booked me in to see him on Monday morning (the next day)

Later on Sunday afternoon it seemed as though Trebs could be on the mend as he was moving around a little more, and I noticed the odd twitch from his back legs.

That evening we'd given his hindquarters a gentle wash (he'd been weeing on himself), and he seemed to be squirming around a bit and we heard a couple tiny squeaks, and I know he was frightened but I was just relieved he was moving at all.  We dried him as best we could and lay him back down, but he was squirming in his blanket a bit, and ended up on his back as he seemed more comfortable like that. It kinda looked like he was trying to lick his hands and wash himself, but he still lacked coordination. Then I noticed some blood around his privates... his lil peepee was slowly dripping blood and I was mortfied.  We knew he was fragile due to his injury and I thought we'd further injured him or 'dislodged' something in him while wiping him down or changing his blankets.

So back to the Vet directory we went...  after a lot of calling around we found someone who would see him immmediately, so we borrowed a car and raced to the clinic. Treble seemed relatively alert sitting/lying upright in his blankets, sniffing about as usual. The vet picked him up and plopped him on the table, and poked and prodded at him a bit, but Trebs didn't really protest; he just propped himself up on his front legs and  sniffed around. The vet said that he "clearly didn't have any use of his hind legs" and that his bloody urine was due to his baldder "overflowing". He didn't say much else apart from that he had to put Trebs to sleep straight away.

I was a bit surprised as I'd thought he'd been showing improvement (before the bloody urine obviously), and i begged the vet to gas Trebs before he stuck the needle in. The horrible part was that, even though the vet promised he'd gas him, he took Trebs away to another room to do it all, and brought him back for me to hold as he was slipping away. This all seemed to happen really fast and I wish I'd asked more questions, but I felt really "brushed off" and foolish.

Part of me wishes I'd taken him to the vet earlier, but the first vet I called didn't seem fazed, and Trebs seemed to improve the next day.

Part of me wishes I'd waited until Monday and kept that appointment with the first vet, where we might have been given other options, (but after we saw him bleeding there was no way we were waiting for anything)

I haven't been able to find any info about Treble's injuries, ie; spinal injuries and their complications. While it made sense at the time that his bladder was "overflowing" this seemed strange as he'd peed normal amounts earlier that day.
He obviously had SOME life left in his hindquarters as his feet and tail were still warm and he'd moved them slightly earlier that evening.

I was hoping we could have been given some painkillers/anti-inflammatory meds for Trebs, and we could nurse him slowly back to happiness. The vet didn't ask many questions and I felt I couldn't ask any myself - it all happened so fast at the clinic.

If euthanising Trebs was best for him then that's fine; and I'll have to live with the fact that we let him suffer for almost 36 hours before it ended.

I know it's over and there's nothing I can do about it now, but I sorta need "closure". I don't really understand the injuries my little guy had and was wondering if you'd seen anything similar... or could offer some insight?

Many thanks for reading this  - I know it's a long one!


Answer
First of all, I am so sorry for your loss. He was just a young little guy yet.

Its hard to say what went wrong, but I will take an educated guess since I have no xrays or lab work to tell me otherwise.   Sounds as if your little one had suffered more than just skeletal injuries and it went deeper, probably internal injuries. The spine could have shattered, injuring his kidneys or the impact of the fall caused injuries to the kidneys or other organs.

You cant hold on to the "what if we did this" or "I should have done that"  you will never ever have closure if you do this.   I know. Trust me. I have had my own rats become sick and had to be put down and have questioned my own judgment as well as the vets, even if I worked at the clinic, so its never easy.  I do think you did the right thing though by having him put down.

However, I feel the vet should have offered xrays at least so the injuries could be assessed and the decision to euthanize could have been more justified rather than the vet simply hauling him off to put him to sleep.  Obviously he did not give him the cardiac injection or he would not have brought him to you to pass away in your arms, as death is instant. You should not have even had to ask to put the rat under anesthesia before euthanasia as this is the law in most states before cardiac injection, which is considered inhumane otherwise and the vet could lose his license if it is done without the rat being unconscious. Even sedation is not good enough, the rat must be put under a general anesthesia and be totally unresponsive to stimuli before the cardiac injection is performed.  He probably gave an intraperitoneal injection instead. This means the rat slowly drifts off after so many minutes rather than having death be sudden.

Could your rat have been saved? Could you have given him steroids for inflammation and he would have regained use of his legs?  That depends on the severity of the injuries. Someone wrote me a while back where her son threw the rat across the room and could not walk for days. It looked grim, but the rat was able to use her front paws and eat etc.... no signs of internal illness, and she slowly was able to move again, although never was able to walk normal again which showed permanent injury to the spine. Her tail was always dragging, legs dragging most of the time which implies spinal trauma.
In your case though, I feel your little guy had internal injuries which is why he was bleeding from his penis. I do feel the vet should have done some tests just to show you there was no hope at least, esp since you did not know this Vet and had not learned to trust his judgment etc...

No lectures, but this is one reason I am totally against allowing rats to roam free range. We feel bad caging them, they are so smart and seem capable of knowing right from wrong, knowing what can be dangerous and what is safe, but they dont, and accidents happen.  Electric shock, getting stuck in something, stepped on, crushed, falls, all can claim the lives of our little intelligent friends which is why they belong in a nice roomy cage and should be brought out in a safe play area for exercise while supervised. Again, I am so sorry for your loss, but you did th right thing by letting him go.   Hugs to you.