Rat with swollen paw

Question
QUESTION: We have a one and a half year old very healthy female rat (Ferra) who has for the past few days been suffering with a noticeably very swollen hind right paw which is causing her to cry in out pain. She can still move about though but is sleeping in a rather odd position on her back.

We are not sure how his happened or if paw is broken or infected (perhaps climbing in and out of cage foot got caught in bars?), but Ferra is still feeding & drinking well. We are offering a little childrens liquid Tylenol to ease pain.

My kids want to bring Ferra to the vet which is $60 for an initial  consultation. I see from an earlier post (Myra the rat) that with regards to the foot you indicated that there is probably nothing a vet will do with this type of injury and you suggest 30 mg/lb of childrens Ibuprofen to help pain.  Would you suggest that over the next few days this is the type of treatment that we should also be following?

Just wondering if a broken paw will eventually heal by itself? Would wrapping the paw with say hockey tape to try and immobilize it help? Also if paw is infected, not broken or sprained, causing it to swell, would dipping it in say Hydrogen Peroxide and applying antibiotic cream help?

Thank you

ANSWER:
Before I go on,
please let me know if it looks like the photos you see on my website:

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




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QUESTION: Yes, this is exactly what Ferra's foot look like. Regarding this "Bumblefoot" condition, did the Ferra get this from climbing the bars of the cage?

Regarding the suggested treatment mentioned in your article, can this medication be bought over the counter or must it be prescribed by a vet? Is there a brand name for this medication? Also is it taken orally or applied locally to the foot?

Ferra is currently willingly taking strawberry flavoured childrens Advil which we are giving every 4 hrs. Would your suggested pain medication be better to control the pain.

Thank you so much for your quick response to our question.

ANSWER: I had a feeling this is what she had.  No, it has nothing to do with climbing the bars. It is infection that comes from the cage itself, like for example, if she stands in urine or feces and has a tiny cut on her foot. This allows the bacteria to enter into the tissue of the foot and it causes local infection. It can spread, though and would be a disaster if it goes to the bone of her leg. This would be fatal if it spread.   Unfortunately, all medications needed for this are oral and only prescribed by a Vet.  The pain medication is a narcotic since this is a very painful condition for rats.  The childrens advil may help a bit with pain but it wont help with infection as you are aware of.



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

QUESTION: Hi Sandra,
Just a quick follow-up on Ferra. To save us a $57 vet consultation, normally required to obtain the medicine, my dentist was happy to phone in a prescription for "trimethoprim-sulfa" to a friendly pharmacist who filled it, so we now have 12 day supply of a daily dosage for a 1lb animal (cost $13). Ferra had to be "encouraged" to take the 1st dosage of the medicine, but she did take it so hopefully her foot will start to show some improvement over the coming days.

Answer
That is GREAT news. I am happy you were able to get the medication for her.  You have an awesome Dentist!!!!!

Also, if she hates the meds, you can mix it with yogurt, baby food, even a bit of melted chocolate or vanilla ice cream.  The sweet treat wont hurt a bit and at least she is getting the meds in. You should notice a difference in a day or so, keep up with the childrens ibuprofen as well so it helps the swelling and even the pain.

THANK YOU so much for the update. I really appreciate it when people write and let me know how things go. I often wonder how many of the rats are after reading about them and never hear back again. Please let me know how she is in a day or two.