Lethargic rattie with chin swelling

Question
QUESTION: I have had my female rat for about a month, and a couple of weeks ago she had a respiratory issue which seemed to clear up all by itself, with a little help from vitamin B6 and echinacea. She has been healthier this week, gaining weight, keeping herself groomed, and lots of energy. Yesterday I noticed she was sleeping alot more than usual, and seemed not quite herself. Tonight I took her out of the cage and she was content to snuggle on me, which she never does, and she seems to have lost weight. I looked at her very closely and saw porphyrin at the corners of her eyes, and what looked like porphyrin residue on the insides of her "wrist" areas, and worst of all, her chin seems very swollen and tender to the touch. I was able to look at her teeth, and they seemed normal, but what do I know since she would normally never let me close enough to her face to see her teeth before. I put her on the floor and she walked gingerly across it, rather than her usual bounding about. She is in two joined cages with 3 other ratties, but I can separate her from them if need be. What could possibly be the issue here? I am very careful about keeping the cage clean, with 3 bottles of fresh water, a large variety of foods, all healthy, plus rat blocks, lots of chew toys, Carefresh bedding, and hammocks. The ratties get out to play for a couple of hours every day, and have never been injured or dropped.

ANSWER: Hi


First of all, I wouldnt take her from her familiar cage and her cage mates, the stress usually causes more harm than good. If she was contagious, the others were already exposed the minute her body starting shedding any of the germs providing they are airborne and not host specific, which often they are.

You say her chin is swollen, what about her neck under her throat?


Let me know so I can get a better idea of what this may be, although I have an idea.

Also, do you have a vet that knows about rats?  If not, please let me know your area or zip code so I can also give you names of vets that are up to par with rat care.

hang in there

Sandra

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

QUESTION: The swelling seems to be located just at the point of her chin, and I don't see swelling anywhere else. She is eating fairly well, though she is having trouble with the rat blocks. I do have access to a rattie vet nearby, and I will be taking her in later today. Do these symptoms sound familiar to you?

ANSWER: It sounds like she may have a little abscess in her mouth, or perhaps a disturbance with the way her teeth are growing. The swelling though pretty much tells me it could be an infection from an abscess but its hard to say without seeing a photo.  Dont worry, antibiotics should clear it up along with something for inflammation and discomfort such as metacam.

Let me know how it goes....its so hard to be totally sure about certain things when I make a "cyber diagnosis"  LOL so I am curious how close I am to what it may be and of course hoping all works out fine which I am sure it will.

One last thing...has she been out of your sight at all lately to get in to anything or chew on anything?

Take a look at my website at the little rat that chewed through a lamp cord and was shocked.  She survived thank goodness but she was swollen beyond belief.  One cord was forgotten to be moved from her sight and wouldnt you know she found that one cord and ZAP!

Here is the URL...scroll down to read about free range rats and the story of Scampers.

http://www.freewebs.com/crittercity/allaboutratcare.htm



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

QUESTION: The ratties have a full room to run around and play in that is rat-proofed as much as it can be. I read another post where it's possible that a swelling like that could have been caused by an insect bite. We have spiders and scorpions roaming around. The ratties are in and out of the closet and under things, so it's possible that it could have been a bite. I could send you a photo of the swelling, if that will help. Let me know how to send one to you, because I don't see any way to attach a photo from this site. Thanks for your help!

Answer
You can send the photo to me at

Askcritterkeeper@yahoo.com

thanks!!

As for the insect bites...this could be true too but I would think that the rat would be sick if it were a scorpion?  I dont know much about those but yuck, that makes my skin crawl.  We dont have them around here luckily (we have snakes though....probably worse for rats than anything! EEP!)  The only spider that could really penetrate our skin or animals skin (rats skin is tougher than humans, almost like leather as they get older) would be the black widow or the brown recluse and if it were the widow I dont think the rat would survive and the brown recluse....they may be a big sore starting to form.
I dont know though, this is something I rarely have come across as far as insect bites go.

It could be an abscess...I am still leaning toward that but maybe the photo will tell me more.