Isabelle

Question
QUESTION: I have a female pet rat named Isabelle. She is about a year and a half old. I picked her up today and noticed she has a big ball around her anus and vaginal area. She hasn't gone to the bathroom or been around any male rats? Whats going on? Shes been eating and drinking somewhat normally. She acts like shes in a lot of pain and constantly cleaning herself down there. Any ideas what it might be?

ANSWER: She may have a prolapsed uterus. This is a medical emergency and she needs a vet right away.

If you need a vet please refer to the URL below to help locate someone in your area that treats exotics.  

http://www.aemv.org/vetlist.cfm

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you for the reply. Unfortunately, I am tight on money and I cant afford to take her in. She seems to be doing fine today but she was bleeding just a little bit in the vaginal area this morning. The thing thats bothering me now is she scratches herself like crazy. She gets a bath regularly (at least twice a week) and now she scratches so bad she has cuts all over. I dont know what to do. I dont want to have to put her down. =(

Answer

For starters, chill with the baths. Thats too many baths for any animal and it can dry their skin out to the point it causes itching.
I suggest easing up on bathing her to just once or twice a month, if its even really necessary.  Rats keep themselves very clean unless they are ailing and cannot groom properly. Meanwhile, to help with any dry skin issues, you can simply feed her a cracker with a bit of olive oil on it to help replenish lost oils in her body. This truly works and I was a skeptic myself before I started suggesting this to clients and they all raved about how it works like a charm. Also, you can rub some cortisone cream on some of those itchy spots and after all starts to heal, bathe her to remove any left over gunk. What type of shampoo are you using on her, btw?

I am really sorry that you cannot take your rat to the vet for medical care. I often stress to people not to jump in to own pets if they cant afford medical care and the sad part is, most can at first, but this economy, between the gas wars and Americans buying so many foreign products including cars (believing we take a part in the making of the cars but it is the foreign countries that profit) whoops I got on my soap box, sorry! LOL  
Long story short, I understand how money can be tight. I hate to say it though but to put her down would cost close to what a regular exam and treatment would be.

Perhaps you can get a loan from family, friends, or even apply for what is called CARE CREDIT:
http://www.carecredit.com/vetmed/links.html

Or possibly ask the vet for a payment plan. Many will work with you, often taking checks to be saved to use at a later date rather than billing you.  Vaginal bleeding is almost never a good thing and she really does need a vet. She depends on you for her care, no matter what. This is just one of those unfortunate things with pet owning everyone needs to consider will happen and should have a back up plan.
Hopefully you can work it out but if you would like, there are a few services that provide some financial aid for ailing animals when the owner is having financial difficulties that I can check out for you. I am not sure if they cover rats but it is for any pet in general, and this little girl is indeed your pet....

Hang in there and if you need anything else just holler!