Pet rat chewing leg cast

Question
How can we keep our pet rat from chewing his leg cast? He broke it quite badly and has a splint made by the vet from a split syringe/tongue depressor, wrapped with cotton and a fabric bandage. I know about Bitter Apple, but I have tried that on several occasions and on different species and never has it worked. We are afraid the baby is going to chew through and chew his leg. Any ideas?

Answer
Hi

You asked how to keep the rat from chewing his cast and the truth is, you cant.  You will have to keep an eye on him best you can but if he is going to do it, he will do it no matter what. One reason its pretty useless to cast a fracture on a rat and instead, opt for surgery and have the fracture fixed using pins, is because many rats wont tolerate a cast.  Keeping the rat comfortable while he is in a cast or splint by using a narcotic pain killer such as  butorphanol (Torbugesic) will help keep him from chewing because he will not associae his discomfort with the cast. Avoid metacam and other NSAIDS such as ibuprofen or tylenol since it can delay bone healing. Steroids can be used instead for inflammation.  

Also, he should be kept in a small single story cage where he has limited mobility.  


It is important to increase his protein and carb intake during healing by adding a supplement to his diet, or simply by giving him canned Ensure, Boost or soy formula. Be sure he remains well hydrated too. Expect healing to take up to 4 weeks in more severe cases. Was this a compound fracture?