Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just acquired a young domestic rat from friends this past Saturday. She was outside in a friend's bushes and wandered out and up to them.. She had been badly abused: tail burnt, someone had attempted to cut her tendons on her back legs, her tail had deep cuts on it and she has very poor eyesight(when I walk up to her cage or past it, and when out of her cage, she sways her head from side to side).

She had been vaginally bleeding lightly up until today then earlier today she seems to have "given birth" to what I could imagine kidneys or some small pink intestines to look like.. I believe she had a miscarriage, as it is one tiny pink sack connected to a bigger =[ I'm not sure what to think of this...

I'm trying to make enough money to take her to the vet but I currently only have around $60, seeing that I'm 16 and my parents don't want to pay for her... I have 3 older rats (thankfully) at another house while this one is in quarantine... but my whole point of this entire thing is has anyone ever had a rat that has had a miscarriage? and if so does it sound as though this is what has happened to Honeydew? I'm sooo concerned I really want her to make it through all of this.. any past experience or suggestions on this one?

Poor Honeydew!!!! Its outragous what some people do to living things. How is she healing? Can you call your vet and explain how old you are and that you are paying for this all on your own and get on a payment plan? My concern is with infection to the cuts and the burn, if shes not bleeding vaginally she should be o.k, but I would also mention the misscarraige.
Do talk to a vet asap, I'm sure one would help you with this terrible case of mistreatment.
Keep us posted and may luck be with you.
Robin
Harm None.

the cuts and the burn are healing well.. I was thinking that's what I would do about the vet thing.. The vet we have been taking our dogs to also specializes in small animals and the older vet at the office is fond of me because of my "care and compassion for animals," so I will see what I can do. She is stronger today but I'm somewhat concerned about having to leave her for the weekend. I have to go to my birthmom's house where my older rats are and I don't think I should take her since god only knows what she could possibly give to them if she's sick and I don't want to risk it.. So, my dad is going to be watching her and I plan on taking care of of the vet situation on Monday.. I really wish I could take her with me but I don't know if I should risk that.. lol my other rattys are only a few weeks or so older than Honeydew so once her health gets stable I think it will be a smooth introduction to my other girls(hopefully I didn't just jinx myself =/ )

Whenever a new animal comes to my sanctuary I always put them in quarentine, these "new" animals are in the same house as the resident animals, I just keep them in a seperate room and ALWAYS feed, clean and handle them last, after caring for the residents and ALWAYS wash your hands thoroughly after handling the new animal. If you follow these rules you should have no problem taking her with. You could be extra careful and have a change of clothes that you only wear when handling Honeydew.
Hope this helps and I'm glad shes healing.
Robin
Harm None.

I wonder if it could have been a prolapsed uterus?

How is she doing now?
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~Rachel~

She is doing much better =] Last night she started to show her true personality with playing, bucking, and trying to chase my hand(with her bad eyesight she had trouble keeping track of it so I have to move slowly).. She also started grooming me, climbing onto my shoulder and bruxing, and chewing on my clothes(oi lol) I realized last night when I had her in the light that her eye color is kind of a light blue and her one pupil was very dilated and black, while the other was medium-sized and red.. not sure what the deal with that is, I didn't know that rats could have blue eyes?? but I can't even begin to explain how happy it makes me that in 6 days her wounds have been healing well and her entire personality has begun to show =]

I'm glad to hear she's doing so well! They really reward us for taking good care of them , don't they? I know with mine, even when I had to force medicine into them, or bathe them for some reason, they seemed to know I was trying to help. Have fun with her!
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~Rachel~

I can't wait to introduce her to my other rats =] still have to wait 2-3 weeks though =[ lol I really hope that goes well though 2 of my other females are kind of obnoxious and the other is very calm and sweet like Honeydew so I'm thinking they might get along better...

Holy cow!!
I've been so busy with the classes & other stuff happening I've gotten behind here & every where else.
MAAAAAAAAAAAAN
What a story, that poor little Honeydew... how can people be so cruel???
How's the vaginal bleeding? Has it stopped?
That happened to my little Sofia last year & her problem was an infected uterus that had to be surgically removed. I hope that's not the problem here.
Glad her other injuries are healing now.
Don't you just want to slap anyone who would abuse her that way? arrrggghhh!!!
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PHRatz

the vaginal bleeding has stopped and she's acting sooooooo much better =] much happier and much more playful.. boy is she CUTE lol

another question.. I'm holding her right now and it feels as though shes still pregnant? like the lumpy feeling of when my mice are pregnant but not like tumors(my elderly dog has them badly and I have to check for new ones), and her nipples are still enlarged and hair missing around them.. is that possible?! that she could have a miscarriage and not lose all of the babies? she only had 3 or 4 during the miscarriage and I know rats have more babies than that usually... SHEESH! does this rat worry me or what???? LOL =/

is that possible?! that she could have a miscarriage and not lose all of the babies? she only had 3 or 4 during the miscarriage and I know rats have more babies than that usually... SHEESH! does this rat worry me or what???? LOL =/

Oh dear that doesn't sound good at all. It is possible that everything did not come out which would be a bad thing because again it would more than likely require surgery.
It could be she has infection going on.. maybe medication would be the thing she needs. There's so many things it could be, I wonder if you could get a vet to go ahead & look at her, pay what money you have now then owe the rest later...

Whatever happens, it's great that you are helping her.
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PHRatz

Something occurred to me while I was washing my hair lol.
We have competing SPCA groups in our town, neither of them are much help so in the last year an animal outreach organization has opened up.. made me wonder if you have anything like that in your town. Maybe a rescue/rehab/shelter type of group could help you with vet bills for Honeydew.

Because this is an abuse case which is horrible county/city Animal Services should be able to help, in fact they may want to find out if they can locate whoever did this to her & file charges on the person who injured her. If not there's a chance that if you could get in touch with some type of group they really may be able to help you.
Look in the phone book, if you can't find anything there call your local Animal Control, (the dog pound). Call them because I know that around here the county Animal Contols/Animal Services in the various regional towns know who ALL the rescue groups are & can give out their numbers to people who need their help.
It's a thought for a place to start.
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PHRatz

This is very sad to hear.

You really do need to get your rat to a vet. If you feel babies still inside of her, and if they can't come out normally, she will eventually die because of it. She may have been abused alot while pregnant which may have aborted her pregnancy but if all the babes are nearly completely developed, they certainly are not passing out properly.

Since you already have a family vet where you take all your other animals to, give him a call, tell him about the rat you found and ask if you could work at the clinic to help pay the vet bills, do a payment plan etc. The vet may go for this. But definitely get a general examination done to assess your rat's condition. It may be that there is nothing that can be done and putting her to sleep may be the best thing to do. Though hard to put a beloved pet to sleep, it is better than living in pain or discomfort.

Talk to your vet, see what he can do for you. If he is already impress with your level of love for animals, this will definitely make him more inclined to go that extra mile to help you. Vets certainly know that not everybody can afford hundreds, even thousands of dollars to help their pets and most are willing to work with people to find a way to ensure everybody is happy.
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PHLdyPayne