Injured Breeder

Hey guys - I have a problem.

I just noticed a huge abscessed wound on one of my girls. She's one of my older girls and I've grown quite fond of her. I've always liked her a lot - she's very sweet. Her productivity has gone down a lot the past few months as she's well over a year old and probably not even fertile any more. She has given me a lot of nice, big litters and I had every intention to let her live out her life as normal instead of killing her or feeding her off.

Basically this is the first time i've been attached enough to a rat to have it be this painful to have to consider ending it. I would just take her to the vet but i swore to myself that this colony was "feeders, not pets" and that all issues would be dealt with here and within the collection. I think i violated that rule, unfortunately and I don't know what to do.

Have any of you experienced something similar? What would you do/have you done?

Thanks.

well~ what I would do is cull her~
But your wanting to keep her as a pet.......so maybe what you might want to consider doing is.....

Put her on clean bedding with one other youngish female weanling rat for company. She shouldn't have to mess with who's "Alpha" if you use a weanling as her company. Keep her warm. Watch~ if she'll let you (BE CAREFULL~ this is going to hurt so she may bite you a LOT if she is not very tame)~ if she'll let you~ open the absess and let it drain. If whe won't~ leave her be. Her instinct will be to open it herself if she can. Go to the farm supply store~ pick up some teramycin powder~ mix a little in her water (won't hurt the pup~ but don't use the pup as a feeder until you've withdrawn it off the antibiotic for at least a couple weeks) If you can find some "Blue Kote" at the farm supply store spray that on the wound~ if not~ rub a little neosporin or something like that on it. Keep her clean, dry, and watch.

Good luck!

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Originally Posted by Morphie

Hey guys - I have a problem.

I just noticed a huge abscessed wound on one of my girls. She's one of my older girls and I've grown quite fond of her. I've always liked her a lot - she's very sweet. Her productivity has gone down a lot the past few months as she's well over a year old and probably not even fertile any more. She has given me a lot of nice, big litters and I had every intention to let her live out her life as normal instead of killing her or feeding her off.

Basically this is the first time i've been attached enough to a rat to have it be this painful to have to consider ending it. I would just take her to the vet but i swore to myself that this colony was "feeders, not pets" and that all issues would be dealt with here and within the collection. I think i violated that rule, unfortunately and I don't know what to do.

Have any of you experienced something similar? What would you do/have you done?

Thanks.

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I am sorry Morphie...I would be no help. I allow mine to live out their lives in relative comfort if they aren't ill. However, I do gas any that aren't healthy.

I have no rat pets, but I have a grandfather rat who is 3 years old now and still keeping his tub of concubines in order.:O

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Originally Posted by Cheryl Marchek aka JM

well~ what I would do is cull her~
But your wanting to keep her as a pet.......so maybe what you might want to consider doing is.....

Put her on clean bedding with one other youngish female weanling rat for company. She shouldn't have to mess with who's "Alpha" if you use a weanling as her company. Keep her warm. Watch~ if she'll let you (BE CAREFULL~ this is going to hurt so she may bite you a LOT if she is not very tame)~ if she'll let you~ open the absess and let it drain. If whe won't~ leave her be. Her instinct will be to open it herself if she can. Go to the farm supply store~ pick up some teramycin powder~ mix a little in her water (won't hurt the pup~ but don't use the pup as a feeder until you've withdrawn it off the antibiotic for at least a couple weeks) If you can find some "Blue Kote" at the farm supply store spray that on the wound~ if not~ rub a little neosporin or something like that on it. Keep her clean, dry, and watch.

Good luck!

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Cheryl, thank you - i think i might try it. Is there anything for the pain that i can use?

I don't have a co2 chamber set up but I'm starting to think i need one for situations like this - just in case.

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Originally Posted by broadude

I have no rat pets, but I have a grandfather rat who is 3 years old now and still keeping his tub of concubines in order.:O

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Thank you for sharing, lol, this made me smile.

I wouldn not try to give her pain meds. I have no clue what the dosage would be for a creature that small~ and overdosing her will kill her. She's just going to have to suffer through if she survives. If you think she is in extreme pain~ cull her~ other wise wait and see~ they can tolerate some pain~ it's only us Pansy Humans that need a pain pill every time we get an ache or discomfort!

The kindest thing you can do for the old female, is to put her on a flat surface, hold her down using a large screwdriver or similar pressed to the base of her neck/skull and give her tail a firm, steady pull until you feel a click and she goes limp. If you are breeding rats as feeders you need to cull when it is necessary, otherwise you will finish up with a shed full of elderley, ailing rats.

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Originally Posted by Herpquest

The kindest thing you can do for the old female, is to put her on a flat surface, hold her down using a large screwdriver or similar pressed to the base of her neck/skull and give her tail a firm, steady pull until you feel a click and she goes limp.

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I hope thats not your humane way of killing rodents.

It's called cervical dislocation and is approved by the AVMA. I prefer not to do it with adult rats as the tail sometimes skins~ so to someone without a CO2 tank I would recomend "Thumping" involving the rat in a pillow case and a brick wall or concrete floor. NOT approved by the AVMA which is why I did not suggest it.

Cervical location is only recommended by the AVMA when the person performing it has been taught by a well achieved practicioner and practiced it many times.

CO2 is a humane method with no risk of complications unless the person doing it really doesn't wait long enough for them to pass.

If it's an open wound absess, I would gas her unless you have means to treat her properly. I just today had to put my oldest breeder girl down. She lived for 2 some years and has been helping out socializing the holdbacks for quite some time now. She also had the start of breast cancer right under her left back leg and she has taken a turn for the worst lately.

It is incredibly hard for me to see them go, but I always defer to them having a good quality of life rather than me attempting to sustain them under less than satisfactory conditions.

Very sorry to hear your girl isn't fairing well. :hug: