rats foot

Question
QUESTION: what can I do for my pet rat... his back left foot is really swollen and is a darker reddish with blue or purple.  it is probably about the size of a finger it is so swollen.. i have there are no signs of cuts but there is blood on the towel we put down for him.  we can figure out where it is coming from.  it is a boy rat and this has never happened before.  i am giving him ibuprofen and a tiny bit of benedryl

ANSWER: It sounds like he may have caught it somewhere in the cage.  You can give him children's motrin (ibuprofen) at a dose of 0.03mg / g of the rat's weight to help control the swelling and relieve pain.  The blue color is a bit worrisome, as it means that oxygen isn't getting to the limb very well, though it could also be a bruise if he had it caught for a while and kept twisting around trying to release his foot.  For now I would just give him the ibuprofen and watch him.  If it gets any worse, he begins to limp badly, acts really sleepy or listless, has trouble breathing, shows any other new symptoms of illness, or if the swelling hasn't reduced at all in 48 hours, I would get him to a vet right away.  It sounds like he just twisted his foot, hopefully the ibuprofen will get the swelling under control and he will be back to normal in no time.  Good luck and let me know how it turns out!

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QUESTION: I read something that said not to use pine for the rat cage.  I have been using feline pine (cat litter) for a year now is this safe??

Answer
I believe the jury's still out on the pine compressed pellets.  Some people believe that they are bad since they are still pine, and some other people (including the companies that make the product) believe that the heat treating process removes most or all of the aromatic oils that cause respiratory problems, making the product safe.  I haven't found a study that has any evidence either way.  Personally I have used them in the past, before I started breeding, and they never gave my rats a problem at all.  I have recently switched to aspen though, as it is quite a bit cheaper and I didn't want to risk the health of my babies and breeding animals just in case.