My boy rats foot:

Question
My boy rat lives in the same cage as his sons,and they fight sometimes(I'm getting the young ones neutered soon so they wont be so aggressive though). Today I took out the dad and his back foot was huge, red, and leaking puss. He wont walk on it and licks it. I'm taking him to the vet tomorrow in the late afternoon but I was wondering if there was anything I could do for him in the mean time. I already separated him from his sons and poured a little hydrogen peroxide over his swollen foot. I'm very worried.

Answer

Acute bumble foot Yep, this is a case of acute bumble foot.  Many vets get confused when this occurs becasue they are used to seeing bumble foot a different way (such as classic text book bumble foot)  Normally, bumblefoot is localized in the heel area on the rats foot it.

Treating this will be different than normal bumblefoot since this is systemic, he will need an oral antibiotic.  You can soak his foot best you can in a solution of warm water and hibicleanse even if you have to dip him up and down in the solution a few times and leave it remain on his foot for a minute or three and rinse. Apply neosporin to it as well.  Of course the best bet is the vet so you can get oral meds, just hoping your vet is up to par when it comes to treating rats or the vet may not know how to treat it.


Also, check back old posts here on allexperts with people that had rats with the same thing as your rat has now and I am glad to say they all had a complete recovery. The date on them is
5-6-09. Subject is Francy bumble foot! From: Jennifer.

Note the photo to the right. Is this what your boys foot looks like?