Possible Sprain or Bumblefoot?

Question
QUESTION: Hey there,
I have a rat named Lester, I'm unsure of his age, but I'd have to guese-timate over 6 months for sure. He was purchased at a pet store here in Winnipeg. Recently I came home from work to find his leg was swollen. He's had no cuts, open sores, or trauma to his leg prior to this finding. He doesn't appear to be in any pain, and is hobbling around his cage being as hyper as usual, and climbing up the side. He does live in a fairly large cage with 2 levels, and is prone to falling every now and then. His leg is swollen to about 3 times the size, and is slightly reddened. I'm not able to see any open sores. He still allows me to handle him, and I'm very careful of his leg. I've been reading and reading, trying to find an answer, is it sprained? Or is it bumblefoot? The swelling seems to be going down just a little bit. Any ideas?

ANSWER: Hi Becky


It sounds like he injured it for sure. Bumble foot is real noticable with sores on the soles of their feet. They start as just a red spot but grow fast. Swelling of the leg usually doesnt occur with bumblefoot unless it involves the bone, and this wouldnt happen until the infection was well out of control so you would know it. In fact, a swollen leg when it stems from bumblefoot is considered an emergency,meaning the bacteria has traveled real far and could even be fatal if it turns into sepsis. I do not think that is the case with your possibly accident prone little guy.

What you can do, however, is keep in as immobile as you can. Put him in a small cage minus the levels (or remove the levels from the cage he is in) and remove anything he can climb up on. The key is to keep him from moving around much.
You can safely use childrens motrin for swelling and pain.  I can tell you how much to use but need to know a rough guess of his weight.

Hope this helps

Sandra

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

QUESTION: I removed the levels right after I noticed the swelling. I weighed him in at about 520 grams.
How do I give him the motrin?

ANSWER: Hi again


You can use either a syringe (the pharmacy may give them to you if you dont have any) or purchase a bulbed syringe and he may simply lick if right out of the syringe.

I dont usually like to force medicate rats, even at the clinic, due to possible aspiration, so if you can get him to suck the medication out that would be better.  If not, simply mix it with chocolate ice cream (the sugar and chocolate wont hurt esp a tiny bit at a time) put it in a flat dish and let him lick away.

He weighs over a pound (little moose like my bucks !!) so he can safely take .20 ml which would be about a 1/4 of a teaspoon.  It MUST be the childrens liquid motrin though or it will be too strong. Any flavor is fine. I think it comes in grape or cherry flavored or even dye free which may taste gross to the rat I dont know for sure.

He can take it every 4 to 6 hours, but I would stick to every 6 unless he seems like he is really hurting.

How does the swelling look today?

Do you have a vet just in case you need one? If not, I will be happy to try to find a good exotic specialist that is well versed on rat care if you need one.  Let me know:)

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

QUESTION: Thanks, I'll be sure to pick up childrens moltrin later then for sure. He seems like the cherry kinda guy.

The swelling looks about the same as it did yesterday, but has surely gone down since Friday when I noticed it.

No, I don't have a vet, I had tried to find one when my little guy was sneezing a while back, but read that he could have echinecea in small doses, so I gave him some of that, and behold, he doesn't sneeze anymore. But I should really have a vets number handy just in case.

If the swelling hadn't gone down in a few more days I was planning on calling the same vet that deals with my cats, and see if they also handle rats.

But if you could find the number for a good vet for my baby, then I'd really appreciate it!


Answer
Here is a vet that is a certified exotic specialist. I hope this is close to your area.  There are only 29 certified exotic specialist in Canada!!  Thats nothing new though, there are not that many in the states either and in fact, a few states here have NONE! I guess that is why so many people have become super educated on rat care and do so much reading and research on their own they get to the point where they know more than some traditional vets know about rats. Thats not to take points from the vet with a general practice of dogs and cats, of course, since they do not learn much about the non traditional pet during schooling...they just graze the basics and thats it. Its up to the individual if they want to pursue it or not and many choose NOT to. However, with the rise of keeping non traditional pets as a companion animal, from reptiles to rodents, more vets are branching out and learning beyond the basics for exotic care but sometimes they only learn so much, think they have a handle on things and cause more harm than good. ::sighs::   This is why its better just to try to find someone that did take continued education for a few more years and take their specialty boards (and hopefully pass them!  LOL) so we can have vets for our little fuzzlets!!

Anyhow, let me know how the wild man does with the motrin and the swelling!

Exotic Vet in your area:
*********
Dr. Heather McDonald
Centennial Animal Hospital    
2747 Pembina Highway
Winnipeg Manitoba R3T 2H5
Phone:    204-269-8162
Website: www.centennialanimalhospital.com