my 2 girl rats fighting, bleeding involved!!

Question
hello. i have 2 girl rats around the age of 1 their names are babe and pepper. i got babe a day before i got pepper and they were both around 4 months old at the time. about a month or 2 ago babe started hurting pepper to the point that she would cry! she would drag her around and bite her! i put them in separate cages for about 3 days then after that all was well for about a month, then today i saw babe hurting her again! she was biting her in the leg. so i got pepper out of the cage to see if she was alright but when i turned her on her back i saw dried blood all around her vagina!! i put her back and watched her for a little bit then after about a half hour i noticed that pepper was hunching over breating very heavily!! i dont know what is wrong, is she sick, getting her period, or is babe actually doing this to her!? please email me ASAP at cheetahgirl3@cox.net. my parents are thinking of putting babe down but i dont want to unless thats the only thing that we can do. we are going to the vets on monday i just hope that pepper makes it till monday! so please email me as soon as you get this message. thank you so much!!!!

Answer
 Rats do not have periods; blood from the vagina is usually a sign of injury or illness and she must be taken to a vet (I see you mentioned she is going on Monday).  It could have been something that Babe did to her or it could just be a coincidence that they were fighting and then you noticed the blood.  It could be an internal injury or a medical condition such as pyometra or an abscess or tumor on her insides.  It also could be that the blood is coming from her urethra, not her vagina (they are right next to each other so it can be difficult to tell) which could mean kidney failure, kidney or bladder stones, or a urinary infection.  Your vet will be able to give you a better idea of what it is and what treatments will work for her.

 If you haven't already, separate the two rats and keep Babe comfortable, in a cage with no levels if possible so she doesn't hurt herself further trying to climb around.  Give her her regular food but offer some baby food or some low-sugar sports drink to keep her hydrated and fed and keep her company.  She will likely make it until Monday especially if she just started showing symptoms now, but it depends on what exactly is the problem.

 Well I hope everything turns out for you, let me know what happens!  Good luck!