Critter City
By Sandra Conti of Allexperts.com
Surgical complications
It was bad enough your rat had to have surgery and you spent the night before the surgery terrified of the anesthesia and the thought of your little rat dying on the operating table or right after surgery during recovery.
Well now that all is well, you were just about ready to breathe a huge sigh of relief when you notice your little angel has just pulled her stitches out, and there she sits, in a puddle of fresh red blood.
Your knees go weak, the room starts to spin and its 3 o'clock in the morning with the nearest ER vet 45 minutes away and their exotic vet is only in on Monday, Tuesday and Friday.
Its Thursday morning.
Now you have to throw up at this point. WHAT DO YOU DO? Why, you go to the internet of course, and do a search on surgical complications and here you are, at Critter City.
**WARNING: SOME PHOTOS BELOW ARE A BIT GRAPHIC**
Skye had already picked off the surgical glue in this photo.
Skye continued to pick at it determined to remove the stitches.
Almost completely opened now with just a stitch or two left holding the skin flaps together.
After seeing the vet first thing in the morning, Skyes incision was given staples to keep it together and discourage chewing.
So what made her do this? Why do rats chew their incision? For one thing, Skye was bored and lonely, kept from her cagemate for several days. Also, some rats are not happy about the feeling they get from stitches, from the pulling to the possilbe itching or even burning, even pain, rats will go to the source of discomfort and try to do what they can to make themselves feel better. Its all a part of their survival instinct. How can this be prevented? The vets technique is critical when it comes to stitching up a wound like this. The stitches should not be pulled too tight. This creates pain and burning. Also, some rats do better with staples since there is less chance of an allergic reaction the types of stitches,which can cause burning. Pain medication like torbugesic, which is a narcotic, should be used the first few days post op and antibiotics should always be given no matter what type of surgery it was. Always insist on both medications in order to avoid problems post op like what happened to Skye. Also, do not keep them from their cagemate for more than 24 hours. In all my years of owning rats and working with rats, I have only heard of perhaps one occasion where the cagemate kept trying to mess with the rats incision. Most of the time they are just happy to see each other. The other rat may smell the surgical site but usually thats the extent of it.
Healing very nicely. Notice the new skin coming in and everything is fusing together nicely. No sign of infection!
Almost totally healed, staples will come out in a few more days! Nice job, Skye!
Skye is happy to be tumor free! YIPPIEE!
!
Seroma
Another complication is a minor one, but none the less, it may require attention from your Vet. This would be a Seroma.
So...what is a Seroma ?
A seroma is a pocket of clear serous fluid that may develops in the body after surgery. Seromas develop when small blood vessels rupture and blood plasma seeps out into the body.
Why do they develop after a lump is removed?
The reason why this excess fluid develops is because the body sometimes tries to replace tissue that has been removed. When a lump/mass is removed, excess fluid builds up trying to take the place of the missing tissue.
How soon can this happen?
Seromas often erupt anywhere from a week to 10 days post op. You will notice a bubble type mass in the area of the surgery and it sometimes makes the rat owner think a brand new tumor has grown already, which is pretty upsetting to the rat owner and in turn gets them to call the vet!
How can the seroma be treated?
The best thing to do is nothing. The body usually takes care of it by reabsorbing the fluid on its own. However, if it contineus to grow to a large size or seems to cause pain, turns red, feels warm to the touch and the rat wont let you touch it, meaning it may be tender, this could be infection starting. The vet should drain it at this time and treat it accordingly.
Infection! This is a word many of us know. It is also something that we dread when dealing with surgial incisions.
It can happen to the best of vets since Vets cannot control the environment the rat is in when she leaves the animal hospital. The best way to prevent infection after surgery is to keep the rat away from soiled litter/shavings until the skin starts to fuse together, usually in about 3 days. The rats fast metabolic rate also makes the rat a pretty fast healer.
Keep the rat on clean white paper towels, change out as soon as they become soiled. I dont care if you have to go through two rolls of paper towels a day to be sure that the rat doesnt lay in incision on feces and urine stained bedding, you do not want to see the incision become infected. This could lead to poor healing and the infection could get so out of control it could enter the blood stream and could cause sepsis, which can be fatal to a small rat. The vet should also prescribe antibiotics such as amoxil, to take for at least a week to 10 days after the surgery.
Signs of infection include:
1. Red, angry looking surgical site.
2. Discharge and foul odor
3, Swelling
4. Delayed healing
The rat may feel lethargic and not want to eat, which means it is starting to get into the body rather than just infecting the incision locally.
It can happen to the best of vets since Vets cannot control the environment the rat is in when she leaves the animal hospital. The best way to prevent infection after surgery is to keep the rat away from soiled litter/shavings until the skin starts to fuse together, usually in about 3 days. The rats fast metabolic rate also makes the rat a pretty fast healer.
Keep the rat on clean white paper towels, change out as soon as they become soiled. I dont care if you have to go through two rolls of paper towels a day to be sure that the rat doesnt lay in incision on feces and urine stained bedding, you do not want to see the incision become infected. This could lead to poor healing and the infection could get so out of control it could enter the blood stream and could cause sepsis, which can be fatal to a small rat. The vet should also prescribe antibiotics such as amoxil, to take for at least a week to 10 days after the surgery.
Signs of infection include:
1. Red, angry looking surgical site.
2. Discharge and foul odor
3, Swelling
4. Delayed healing
The rat may feel lethargic and not want to eat, which means it is starting to get into the body rather than just infecting the incision locally.
