Home surgery on your rat!

[tcpip]

Last night Rogue was involved in a "dominance scuffle"* with the new members of the colony under the couch; it would seem, that upon a backwards leap on to a sharp part of the metal base, he almost managed to kill himself. The result was a extremely deep and wide cut that severed all the muscles down to the skull, which was distressingly quite visible.

We rushed the little guy to the local pharmacy who instantly started looking up 24-hour emergency vets; the closest apparently was Werribee, somewhat difficult with public transport in the middle of the night. Purchasing some steri-strips we returned home, made an attempt to patch his gaping wound, and started reading through the Rat Health Guide by Deb Ducommun.

The guide duly informed us that rats can cope with large wounds, up to 1.5" (which was about the size of Rogue's) - any larger one should use Superglue (glue your rat back together!), but there is a risk of infection. So, with my steady surgeon's hands, I went about putting some topical antibacterial into his skull. caseopaya was a most helpful (although very distressed) nurse in the proceedings.

Cleaning his house with vinegar (as a disinfectant), he stayed in our room overnight. This morning, with an OK from work, I took him to Elsternwick Vet Clinic, who after marvelling at his resilience, put him under general anaesthetic (Rogue is 2.5 years; in his sixties in rat-years) and gave him the requisite stitches. Elastoplast is on his paws (which he's not happy with) to ensure that he doesn't dig them out.

Oh, it should be mentioned that during all these proceedings, Rogue acted as if there was nothing wrong at all...

* It seems to be Rogue has authority over Ragamuffin, Ragamuffin over Scoundrel and Scoundrel over Rogue. Quite egalitarian in a way...

Comments

[silverblue.livejournal.com]

Oh man, the poor little guy!

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

You would think so, wouldn't you? He didn't seem to even notice!

[frou-frou.livejournal.com]

Yegods, please wish Rogue a speedy recovery from me...he's made of stout stuff, indeed.

For what it's worth, the Lort Smith in North Melbourne are open until midnight for emergencies. It was the sick/injured pet issue that inspired me to get a car again after we did without for a while.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Thanks Nicky...

Yeah, caseopaya suggested the Lort Smith emergency and pet ambulance after the pharmacist suggested the Werribee option... But after reading the Rat Health Guide, I actually felt confident that he'd be OK.

The li'll guy's energy is extraordinary. He's supposed to be all dopey after the GA and he's bouncing about like an adolescent.

[caseopaya.livejournal.com]

It made me wish I had a car too - one of the few times I miss having one.

[missmalice.livejournal.com]

Deb's Rat Health Guide was such a ratty life saver for our boys on many occasions.

Hope Rogue recovers quickly and without any further trauma. xo

[caseopaya.livejournal.com]

He would if we could get him to stop trying to remove his stitches. Even elastoplaster covered with tobasco sauce hasn't worked!

[fwuffydragon.livejournal.com]

Hope he makes a full recovery!

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

*paws crossed* He seems OK so far... A few days apparently should be enough,

Poor Little Rogue

[marushiki.livejournal.com]

Romulus and Remus send scritches to little Rogue for a speedy recovery

Re: Poor Little Rogue

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the kind comments, I'll pass them on. Rogue is looking a bit sorry for himself, but only due to the elastoplast on his paws..

[stawberi.livejournal.com]

Awww, it's a little ratty version of Frankenstein's monster. <3

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Heheh... That's suggestion has been made. I thought of "Sparky" the franken-dog from the Tim Burton film..

Oh no!

[imajica-lj.livejournal.com]

ARGH silly ratties ... poor old Rouge, please be more careful you need to play nice.
I hope the Humans in the colony are holding up ok too.
Miss you guys heaps.

Re: Oh no!

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

"Careful" is never a word that Rogue has paid much attention to...

From falling off mantle-pieces whilst drunk on champagne, to climbing trees to a level greater than he could get down, to getting into knot-holes of (thankfully deserted) wasp's nests, to escaping from us and running up face-to-face with cats...

*sigh* I named too appropriately..

Miss you guys heaps.

We'll catch up soon, I'm sure.

Man, I volunteered to give a talk on Xen today, didn't I?!?

[redcountess]

Aw, speedy recovery Rogue! Can you get Elizabethan collars for rats? (I'd ask A but she's just departed for Wales)

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Kinda-sorta. The vet made one out of x-ray film, but he kept on sneaking out of it. I've reapplied it and it seems to be hanging on this time. He's not very pleased with it at all!

[angel80.livejournal.com]

Get well soon wishes to Rogue. Maybe rats have even more lives than cats?

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

He's doing well; this particular rodent certainly seems to have taken his quotient in luck!

[shorxrore.livejournal.com]

lol holy sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeyt

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

I know it is kind of funny and yet so very scary at the same time...

[luhtarian.livejournal.com]

Woah. Let us know how he does!

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Will do; so far he's coping quite well...

[rhapsodical78.livejournal.com]

Oh dear god. That's awful. You did well in nursing him through it though.

There's also a 24 hr vet in Mt Waverly if you ever need one again. It should only be a 20 minute drive from you, I would think.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

I was quite scary and distressing and yet at the same time his complete indifference to the wound was quite comic in a macabre sort of way..

Thanks for the Mt Waverly advice; we're collecting quite a list!

[tempusfrangit.livejournal.com]

Deb Rat Lady is amazing. I had the honor of meeting her when I lived in California last time. She helped Delirium (rip) and Riff Raff (rip). They wouldn't have had nearly as long if it weren't for her.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

She well-qualified in animal nursing in general and she has a special interest in our rodent allies. Certainly she provides some of the best information I have read on matters of care.

[tempusfrangit.livejournal.com]

I didn't mean to forget to wish your little one well. :\ Blah.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

He's doing just fine... I'm pretty sure he's going to get through this OK, although he's pretty depressed with the collar and elastoplast!

[cluebyfour.livejournal.com]

Ouch. Here's to your little buddy making a speedy recovery.

Still, the power-sharing arrangement seems tailor-made for further conflict. Wouldn't it be more peaceful if there was a single "alpha rat", so to speak? (I'm just speculating; I have no idea how social structures in rat-dom work. . . .)

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

You're quite right; usually there is a "top rat", which interestingly enough is apparently not so much based on who can bully the others around, but rather who knows the environment best.

The problem, as I see it, is that Scoundrel (the youngest) recognises Ragamuffin's authority as an elder and Ragamuffin recognises Rogue as the indigenous inhabitant, but Scoundrel hasn't worked that out - and he's physically the strongest!

The following site can give you a wealth of knowledge on the rather sophisticated social structures of the rat world:

http://www.ratbehavior.org/

[madame-mage.livejournal.com]

I am sooo getting that book!

Poor little guy! my heart twitched. I really do have a soft spot in my spirit for tough little snots like Rogue. I absolutely adore him already.

My son's pets Indiana Rat comes to mind as well as Gunga Din, I'm surprised they survived as well as they did..I could have really used that information at the time!

Just reading about your Cute little fur kids, inspires me to get a pair. Miss 'em I really do!
*makes a mental note to call the manager in a few days*..

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

*nods* It is a good book; useful, but very terse.

I've noticed a certain toughness among all of them.

Make sure you get some! They're a lot of fun to have around!

[beingfrank.livejournal.com]

Crazy crazy rat. I'm glad he's ok.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

*nods* He is a very crazy rat. But it is his total disregard for his own safety that leads him to have so many interesting adventures...

This one however is the closest he's come to causing serious harm to himself.

may he

[domiobrien.livejournal.com]

live long, and prosper... Domi

Re: may he

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

well, he's pretty close to the longest lived rat I've had so far, and he's showing no signs of slowing down.. as for prosperity! well!

[severina-242.livejournal.com]

Holy crap! BTW, there's a Vet Hospital at Highett, which is a lot closer than Werribee - the RSPCA put me onto them.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Cool; now we have Highett, Mt Waverly and North Melbourne as options before Werribee (thank goodness).

[bibsy.livejournal.com]

Eeek! D:

[darknova666.livejournal.com]

hope he gets better!

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

He's doing just fine. He doesn't need his paws taped up - the good boy hasn't tried to remove his stitches - and he's healing quickly.

[maxxxie2.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear ratty is OK. MaxBabe tells me that superglue is a very common method of closing wounds on humans too (she's a surgical nurse, so she knows all manner of stuff like this). I hope Rogue doesn't pull out his stitches, and wish him a speedy recovery.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Li'll Rogue has recovered just fine and will be getting his stitches out on Sunday... He's been a very good boy and has carefully cleaned himself around his stiches without pulling on them at all! The guy's more smart than he lets on at times...

Apparently one of the dangers of using superglue for wounds is that it creates a small amount formaldehyde after use, but there's a non-toxic surgical variety as well...