bloating/puffiness, lethargy after tumor removal

Question
Hi Sandra,

I emailed you a few weeks ago about my little 1.5-year-old rat Sofia who had
a uterine tumor removed (she was spayed during the procedure).  

On Wednesday, she developed another lump in her abdomen.  I was thinking
that she had grown another tumor and was very discouraged.  

I took her back in to see the vet that same day, but when the vet did an
ultrasound, she did not see a tumor, only a fluid-filled cavity.  The vet (this is
the same vet that performed Sofia's surgery) said that the fluid was probably
an accumulation of urine from a damaged ureter attached to a functional
kidney (she had noted the possibility for this complication during Sofia's
surgery).  She said it was a cyst and that it could be drained.

My vet anesthetized Sofia and drained the fluid out of the cyst.  I was able to
pick Sofia up that afternoon.  She said that we should wait and see if the cyst
comes back before deciding whether to keep draining it or remove the kidney
attached to the damaged ureter.

Here's the problem:  Sofia hasn't been the same since I brought her back
from the vet.  Her regular vet is not working tonight and the other vet (I think
you may recall the incident where he told me that Sofia's sister would
cannibalize her) is not at all qualified to see my baby.  I was hoping you could
direct me a little about what to do for her until her regular vet is available in
the morning.  

Here are her symptoms:

She is sleeping almost all day and night (I wake up often to check on her)

Her fur is all puffed up

She looks bloated.  She has always been a chubby little rat, but never this fat!  
I can't palpate any defined lump like I could before with the tumor and the
fluid-filled cyst - she just looks very round in general.  

She seems uncoordinated.  She is having trouble navigating around her cage.  
It is like her reflexes are slowed.  She will try to jump from the top of her
hidey-house but will be unable to catch herself and do a face plant instead.  
This is heartbreaking to see.  

Other things to note: she has a pretty bad ongoing myco issue, but that has
been controlled pretty well with doxy and baytril (which she had to go off of
for a week while she was on clavamox after her surgery).  She is back on her
former meds now.

What could be causing all of this?  

She is eating and drinking just fine, but seems to have an intense craving for
salt.  I had been eating chips and when I put my hand in her cage to pick her
up, she began literally attacking it to get at the salt (not hurting me, but very
enthusiastically licking and nibbling).  Also, she is chewing on almost
anything she can get her mouth on.  She will walk by something and just take
a bit out of it - blankets in her cage, my couch, my shirt, her plastic food
dish, her hammock - she is trying to eat everything even though she has
plenty of food to keep her satisfied (they get a morning meal and an evening
meal with lab blocks for in-between snacks).  Is this pica?  What would cause
pica in a rat?

When I take her out of her cage, she looks alert for a little while.  If I put her
on the floor or on my bed, she will teeter around and explore things.  She will
play with me a little.  But as soon as I put her back in her cage, she heads
staight for the darkest place she can find and hunches up looking miserable.  

I just want to help her feel better...


Thank you for any help you are willing to provide.  

Answer

I am really sorry about all of this. I would, however, refrain from letting that other vet touch Sofia.  I would never ever ever let him do surgery on her, thats for certain.  I am surprised she does so well under anesthesia with her history of respiratory illness!

It sounds like she is in pain. The fact she is hunched up tells us she is not feeling well of course, but I am not liking the PICA at all. Some medications can cause PICA, however, usually pain medications will do this. Is she on anything for pain?  What drugs is she taking?

Is she drinking more and urinating less?  How is her urine?

Sometimes after a tumor is removed, there is a pocket of fluid that builds up called a seroma. That was my first thought when I read this.

Who did the surgery on her this time?  The vet your not comfortable with?