Question
I'm not sure if you remember us. I had some questions about a "tumor" on my rattie a couple of weeks ago, and it told me I had too many follow ups :-(
Ok, new news :-) George's tumor must really be an absess, its leaking puss :-( What do I do? I would love to take him to the vet, but just started a new job and am unable to get the time off. The absess got a little bigger, then seemed to crust over a little, and is now oozing a cottage cheese consistency puss :-( How do I clean it out? I don't want to hurt him, and definitely don't want to keep this thing hurting him, so what is the least painful way of going about this? I want to keep him healthy, he has such a cute face :-)
AnswerHi Lauren
He should not need a vet at this point. The worst is over, it broke open on its own. Some vets will lance it which is really not that necessary (its a good money maker for them, of course) Once a girl wrote to me because her vet put the rat under anesthesia, lanced the abscess and STITCHED IT CLOSED! ACK! That is like having stitches put on a puncture wound such as an animal bite. You NEVER stitch something like that. It needs to drain and heal from the outside. Yes, it was a total disaster and this poor rat had a horrid infection. I found a good exotis vet for her and she brought the rat in. Turns out the infection was so bad, the skin around the stitches was so necrotic they worried gangrene would set it. All of this cost a small fortune on top of everything else all over GREED!!!!!!! So, its a good idea people do exactly what your doing, educate yourself on things such as this first so you know what is going on.
So what to do? First of all, you do have the grim task of making sure all of the pus inside the abscess is gone. If its swollen again and may have a scab over it, chances are there is pus in it again. First, you need to gather a few supplies so here goes:
Warm wet cloth
Hibicleanse or novalsan, or betadine solution. I prefer hibicleanse.
Dilute in warm water, equal parts.
Cotton balls
Gloves if you want, not really necessary. Common sense (hand washing) is all you need which I feel you have of course!:)
Neosporin ointment or any antibiotic ointment
Saline solution if available but not necessary.
WHAT TO DO:
If the abscess is swollen, apply the warm wet cloth to the abscess to loosen up any pus that may be under the skin. An abscess is a pocket of bacteria.
If there is a scab it should loosen up from the warm compress.
After doing this for a bit, loosen the scab if there is one, and gently press UNDER the base of the abscess and apply pressure to express any pus inside. Do it a little bit at a time.
Continue till there is no more pus.
If there is NO pus or scab etc...prepare the solution using equal parts and saturate the cotton ball in the solution.
Squeeze the cotton ball over the wound and clean it out. Dab it dry with a soft cloth or let air dry. Add ointment to it last and keep her busy for at least 5 minutes so it can absorb.
He will no doubt lick the ointment off which is expected so dont worry.
Let me know how it goes...it will be ok. Dont worry! He is adorable!
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