Wood Rat

Question
I found a wood rat on the road 3 nights ago behaving in a peculiar manner.  I thought she might have been hit by a car as she was walking in circles and seemed disoriented.  I shooed her off into the desert with some difficulty.  I came back a while later and found her huddled on the shoulder of the road.  This time I caught her in a box and took her home.  The first night she didn't look very good but has been improving ever since.  She is eating and drinking well and has quickly become trusting and tame.  No longer moving in circles, her behavior seems normal except that she appears to have a little blood in her urine and a very dry and scaly tail that actually looks shriveled at the tip.  Some of this condition is also on her lower back legs and a little on an ear.  The problem is that no veterinarian around here will see her because she is "wild".  In this state it is permissible to keep a wood rat as a pet, but nonetheless the vets regard it as a possible liability and won't treat it.  Please help.

Answer
Rub her tail with olive oil for starters.  If she licks it off, thats fine.  Provide her with a large cage so she can climb and also provide her with a place to hide, such as a box or a little plastic house she can hide and nest in. Give her white paper towels to use to nest with.

Make sure she knows what to do with a water bottle.  As for vet care, there are wild life places that would indeed help out. Its inhumane to ignore a sick animal so there are places that will see the little one. Let me know your location and I can give you some names.  She probably needs some antibiotics. Do you have a picture of her?  I had a wild field rat for a pet and my vet was in love with her, never had a problem treating her and in fact did a few surgeries on her for tumors as she aged.  He is an exotic specialist. A general vet is clueless anyhow about rats, so its best they keep their paws off of them. Half the time they cause more harm than good!