genital bleeding - female rat

Question
QUESTION: Hi - My daughter has 2 female rats, they live in separate wired cages. The non-issue hooded rat, Rainbow, was purchased from PetSmart on August 5, 2007 (probably already 6-8 weeks old) while the first rat was in vet care. She is more aggressive than the ill rat.  The ill rat that we are concerned about, Sunshine, was also purchased from PetSmart on July 28, 2007 probably already 6-8 weeks old. She is white with light tan markings. Both were raised in the store with a genuine rat lover, so there were no non-trust issues right from the day they arrived (separately) to their new home.  On August 5, 2007, we took Sunshine out of her cage to play and she was walking backwards in a circle and didn't have secure balance.  We took her back to PetSmart and they kept her in their store on antibiotics until we took her back home on August 9th. The ears looked clean. She does have wry/tilt head.  She sways to see (red eyes).  She does have the reddish stuff near her tear ducts.  She has grown to accept her inbalance with low climbing and her shelf in her cage is low. She loves to climb on a human lab and be stroked; (but no climbing on shoulders).  Or climb in a small hamper to snuggle, chew on the clothes, or fall asleep.  When both rats are out, Rainbow always plays by pinning Sunshine down and nibbling/cleaning different parts of Sunshine's body.  An occasional squeak from Sunshine but it could be that Rainbow is too aggressive or Sunshine doesn't want that grooming.  Sunshine's diet consists of Kaytee blocks, seed mix, fresh vegetables & fruits.  On November 16th, Sunshine started bleeding from the little genital nub protrusion above her vagina. We took her to the vet and he verified that the blood is not coming out of the vagina or anus.  He suggested hematoma, bladdar infection, or tumor. Or it could be that Rainbow nibbled to hard on Sunshine's genital area.  We can feel a lump underneath Sunshines's skin right underneath the genital nub; if pushed, blood will come out.  Also, if Sunshine stretches, she squeaks when blood  comes out.  Her bedding is the wood shavings, so I'm sure that iritates her bottom side and when she moves to get comfortable, blood splotches are visible.  Any input from you would truly be appreciated.  Thank you.

ANSWER: Hi Lisa

Before I go further with this, I want to ask about the antibiotics she was given when you first took her to Petsmart for her circle walking. This is classic Otitis Media and unless the person that looked into the rats ears has a special attachment to the otoscope used for rodents, seeing the tympanic membrane would be pretty hard  to do. The culprit for ear infection is usually mycoplasmosis and the proper treatment for head tilt are usually steroids. Some vets use metacam but it is simply an NSAID and using steroids for a short time along with baytril and doxycyline will help the inner ear infection and also the head tilt eases up. Sometimes it doesn't ease up all the way but it can get better at least up to 80 !
The head swaying, as you know, is common in red or pink eyed rats but dark eyed rats do it too. This helps them judge depth since they have a hard time with depth perception. Some people were led to think it is the rat trying to focus but this is not the case. You may note the rat swaying her head before making a jump into an unexplored area or simply by sitting real still when they hear something or see something and they begin to sway as they are trying to see how close the object they see is to them.  Its actually adorable, isn't it? I love "light bright eyes" they look like red pegs lit up on a light brite screen!!

Next, her vaginal bleeding. Is it fresh bright red or pink blood?  Do you notice it mixed with urine?
Is she eating or drinking?  Is her belly protruding?

Before I go on, please let me know if this was treated with antibiotics and also, is the vet an exotics specialist?

BTW, you can change her bedding to "CARE FRESH" for the time being. It is much softer than wood chips but I am not sure how "great" it works but so many rat owners love it. I use aspen in a litter pan. I am lucky that my 6 boys are litter box trained but it wasn't easy with them!


Anyhow please let me know the few things first so I can put things into perspective.

thanks

Sandy

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

QUESTION: Hi Sandy - After some phone calls to an exotic animal hospital and to PetSmart, no one has any records of seeing Sunshine or administering antibiotics back in August.  So that is a dead end for now.  Yesterday November 19th, I took Sunshine to an exotic animal vet.  An xray was taken to see a stone within the bladdar but didn't see one that would be big enough to see.  The bleeding has dimishing from her vaginal area but is still bright red.  Sunshine doesn't care to drink or eat, or move around; lethargic at best.  The vet prescribed .11 Baytril 14 days, .11 Doxycycline 30 days, & .06 Metacam 10-14 days. We are trying to feed her oatmeal baby food, cranberry/grape juice, water - with really no response.  We are using syringes.  She will look in her food bowl, take a nibble of a canteloupe (not even holding it) and be done and stay in the position.  The disgnosis is an UTI, but I'm not seeing that on the patient's chart.  The vet also mentioned the word cystitis.  What a heartbreaking situation.  I'm really concerned about the lack of water intake.

ANSWER: Hi

I am sorry to hear this is still happening!! Did the vet do a urinalysis to determine if she indeed has an infection and what source of bacteria is causing it?
I am so concerned about her dehydrating. If she has a stone or crystals she needs to flush it out and water is the best source. Did the vet say anything about keeping her and giving her fluids for a day or so to rehydrate her and flush her out?



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

QUESTION: Hi Sandy - We have some sad news.  Sunshine passed away this afternoon (Tuesday 20th).  I did administer her antibiotics and pain medicine yesterday, and tried to feed her baby food & water/juice.  She wasn't responsive to that, so I let her rest.  I know so many days without water for humans or pets is definitely life threatening.  This morning, she didn't even want to swallow her food/water, so I gave her medicine and let her be.  Around 12:30 p.m., I went to get her to sit & stroke her, and talk to her.  I cried and asked Sunshine to help me to help her, to give me a sign.  About a minute later she started to slowly brux (but I know it was gasping her last breathes).  I called my daughter into the room and let her hold Sunshine.  My daughter layed down with Sunshine on her chest, close to each other's hearts, and Sunshine bruxed her good-byes to us.  After a few more breathes, Sunshine passed away.  I thought it was very peaceful, just lying there in her owner's arms, gentle and caring.  I had given her the pain medicine this morning, even though I didn't think she was urinating but I thought it would help in some way.  I'm glad I did.  We had a second chance with Sunshine since August and we definitely gave love and Sunshine gave all she could back to us.  Thank you for being there (somewhere out there in this world) for us rat owners.  Our initial rat involvement is: When my daughter asked for a pet back in July for her 7th birthday, I was half-jokingly offering her $5 for a little puppy instead.  But she insisted on a rat because Daddy said they are intelligent.  I wouldn't have changed my daughter's choice for a rat as a pet in a heartbeat!  Whenever we go to a pet store, we bypass the dogs, cats, & fish to head straight to the rats.  One more question though: if Daddy decides for a friend for Rainbow (who is 6 months), is Rainbow too established in temperment (dominant) or too old to accept a new cagemate or next door-cage neighbor?  I read that rats don't thrive as well without their own around.  Thank you. Lisa.

Answer
Oh no I am so sorry.  Your message made me cry. It brought back memories (some very recent) of losing my rats. I have lost so many I have lost count and each one of them takes a tiny piece of my heart with them. I lost a wild rat who was just a few months shy of her 4th birthday. I wanted her last breaths to be in my arms so when I knew the end was near, I over dosed her on liquid valium (with the support of my vet, of course!!) The little old girl FOUGHT the valium,and just bruxed and bruxed for hours but she would not allow me to put her down. I had to use the bathroom SO bad and had my daughter take her and Holly popped that head up, as weak as she was, and struggled to get away from my daughter to get to me! She kept hanging on till I had no choice but to take her to the Vet around 6am to help her go to sleep forever and become an angel. Even the vet was pretty shaken because he had taken care of her for many months during her illness. These little animals will tear your heart up, I am tell ya. This is WHY I do what I do...there is so much that can go wrong with them physically and not enough medical professionals out there in the vet world are aware of even where to begin to treat them. Some Vets stop and listen to some of my advice, others are smug because I do not have a degree on my wall, but I give as much as I can give to other rat owners so we can all provide the best life for these animals, as short as it may be.

Your girl was much too young to have the problems she had. I suspect it was much more than a urinary tract infection or she would have responded to the medication and would not have gotten as sick as she was. I guess it doesn't matter now...she is an angel with my Holly.

As for Rainbow...yes she needs a cagemate as soon as possible. The LAST thing you need is for her to become depressed.
However the bad news is that you must do a proper quarantine on the new rat which means she has to be kept from Rainbow in a separate room for 3 weeks and you and anyone that comes in contact with the new rat need to wash up good, change clothes and blow your nose(these specific viruses adhere to the mucus membranes of the nostrils)  If you refer to my website and go to the QUARANTINE section.

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

Its a bit inconvenient but its worth it in the long run. Meanwhile, keep Rainbow busy by giving her tons of attention.

Oh, almost forgot....no rat is really too old for a cagemate unless your dealing with a 2.5 year old elderly rat riddled with arthritis and even at that age they still prefer another rat to snuggle with. My suggestion is to purchase a rat a bit younger than Rainbow so she will allow Rainbow to maintain her alpha status/head of household...err...queen of the cage so to speak.
On a final note...don't feel bad falling in love with rats that were meant for your children.  Thats how it all began for me. I bought my son who is now 17, a pair of male rats for Christmas.I was thinking more along the lines of a Guinea pig but when I saw these two mammoth sized rats roaming the pet store (Patterson and Ferman) they were the STORE RATS!  It was a small family own pet store.  I just was in awe of the big rats and in fact offered to buy the pet store rats but was turned down. LOL  Instead I brought home my err...my SONS first pair of rats and quickly took over. They were MY RATS within a few months. LOL
Oh and BTW, I ended up adopting Patterson and Ferman the pet store rats a year later when the store closed down and the owner was stuck with tons of small animals and let me have the two boys. They were elderly and required medical care that she said she had no extra funding for since losing her business so I jumped on it.

Anyhow, my heart breaks with you in the loss of Sunshine. She felt love from all of you and that is why she wanted to be close with you all when she took her final breath.

If you need anything just email me at Sandyscrittercity@yahoo.com.  You thanked me for being there for rat owners "somewhere out there in this world" and that somewhere is in Charlotte North Carolina :-)

take care

Sandy