broken pelvis

Question
Hi, i am writing this on behalf of my partner who owns 5 rats , last Thursday she had an accident with one of her 12 month old little girl rats which resulted in trapping her between cage and case base , she can not move her back legs now, we took her to the vets and had an x-ray which revealed a broken pelvis so the vet has given us anti-inflammatory drops to help stop the pain, the vet said there is a good chance she will get better but I'm just asking if you have come across any problem like this before. and can anything help this little rat make a recovery, my partner will never forgive her self if the little girl has to be put to sleep so any help would be appreciated,
many thanks mark

Answer
Hi Mark


I am really sorry this happened to your partners little girl. Unfortunately, it does happen and happens often. I have seen a broken pelvis many times in rats, not long ago a door was shut on a rat and she suffered a broken pelvis.

On a positive note,rats heal fast because of their light weight and the fact they weigh very little means less pressure on healing bones.
I rescued a rat from euthanasia several years ago who was  going to be put down because of his injuries he received after falling 5 feet landing on his back, in which he broke.  
He recovered pretty well but he was also closer  to 2.5 years old so he did not regain the use of his back legs all the way, although he did learn  how to propel and pivot around on his tummy. He lived to be 3.5 years old (almost another year) so my boy had a good life despite his injuries.

If you keep her calm and in a small cage where she has very little room to roam, this will also help promote her healing better if she has little room to move around in. Keep it nice and warm and soft for her and keep her food and  water bottle low so she can reach it with ease.

At this time too, its a good idea to increase protein and carbohydrates while she is healing.
You can provide supplements which include nutri-Cal paste, boost or ensure (in cans or bottles)or soy formula, in which you can get ready to feed in the baby formula version.

Is she taking antibiotics? If not, I would call the vet and ask him about using them too.  What you want to prevent from occurring is an infection  called osteomyelitis which is an infection of bone and bone marrow that can occur after a break.

So, all in all, its a road ahead of her, yes, but the good news is that rats do well in situations like this with prompt attention from the owner, which was already addressed, and now the road to recovery begins. I think she should do just fine. Do you happen to know about how much she weighs?

Hang in there and keep me posted!  How is she acting, btw? Is she eating and drinking? Is she staying in one place or does she try to get around?


Good luck with her and again, please let me know how things are going!


Sandra