neutering gone bad

Question
My boy rat was recently neutered. He had a little scab, but otherwise seemed fine. About a week after the operation, he groomed himself & tore open the incision. At first, it didn't seem that bad. However, by the next day, he was bleeding more heavily. We took him to the vet. Instead of stitching him again, she left the wound open, prescribed an antibiotic and pain medicine. She also instructed us to do warm water hydrotherapy, i.e. gently spraying water 2x a day. He's still open back there. He has consistent, but light bleeding. We're quite worried about the situation. We've taken steps to ensure he will no longer disturb the wound. However, there appears to be tissue coming out of the wound & the bleeding is disturbing.

The vet seems to think this will simply close on its own. We're not so sure, as we actually fear for the rat's well being.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Answer
Hi Jack


Sounds as if the vet did a scrotal neuter instead of going through the abdomen, which is the old fashioned way, but is less painful and less chance of scrotal abscesses and other post op complications.

The good news is it will heal, but you need to be on the look out for infection.
A week since the surgery pretty much insures that the inside incision has healed well enough not to cause problems so what you may be seeing is superficial but yes, it is  disturbing.

I need to ask, were the stitches gone when he ripped open the incision?
If they were and the incision still tore open, that tells me he wasn't stitched properly so that is why I am asking.

Hopefully he is on something for pain better than metacam which is nothing more than a glorified MOTRIN or ADVIL for animals. Scrotal neuters cause alot of cramping several days later and many vets feel if the rat gets narcotic pain medication they may feel too good and want to  do more than they should such as climb etc... but the truth is, rats are far from dumb, they still will feel discomfort despite the medication but they will be comfortable enough that they wont try to pick at the area that is causing them pain.  We have found that by giving the rats stronger pain medication they tend to leave the surgical site alone but if they are allowed to be uncomfortable, they pick at the site as if they are trying to gain some relief.

Is your vet an exotic vet or very experienced with rat surgery?
Neuters on rats are not a walk in the park nor are they routine like they are with dogs and cats. In fact they are risky enough that neutering a rat should be reserved mainly for aggression issues because neutering has no real health benefits like spaying female rats does.  Neutering cuts back on the male rat marking his turf with urine and of course he can take up house with females after a short time post op as well, but the risks are still there, as with any surgery, and unfortunately you are seeing one undesirable complication.

As long as there is no drainage or odor, it should heal ok. The antibiotics should help prevent infection providing it is good for soft tissue infection such as Cefa drops or bactrim is. Sorry to ramble on, I just wanted to be sure I had a clear picture of the entire situation and had to ask a few things so I can understand better why after a week he was still able to split the surgical site open that easy when the skin should have fused together after at least day 4 post op.

Hope this has helped you and please let me know about the stitches, if they were still in when he opened the incision up and also if there is any odor or discharge from the site.

thanks

Sandy