[Yami-maru]

So Connor, my darling little dumb-butt broke his paw around may/june-- then scratched off the cast, tore up his leg-- but now, it was all healed up... and he hurt it again. I separated him to treat the paw like the vet had shown me and he has been in solitary for a few days in a small, single leveled, but openly ventilated and roomy carrier with frequent time out. the carrier is cleaned daily and checked almost hourly. i had it lined with one of his favorite towel and made sure he was comfy. Yet somehow he hurt his hind foot.

I was downstairs watching TV when my sister calls me upstairs and says that Connor's hind leg is starting to swell. We thought he might have snagged it on his towel and hurt the nail, so we left it alone for a bit, but the swelling isnt really going down and my sister thinks it might be bumble foot.

the only antibiotics i have for him at the moment are Amoxicillin tablets for the minor respiratory illness going around my boys-- vet recommended. Would that be good to treat possible Bumble foot with? also what should i do to help reduce swelling and make him more comfortable? what should i do to prevent any form of infection or injury? Is there any way to confirm if it is bumble? and is there any harm in treating for it anyway?

I switched him to news paper bedding, and hes using his front paw a bit more now, its still swollen, but hes using it.

Im concerned about his two paws. its the front left and the hind right.

What can i do?

i havent tried to set his front paw again because of what happened the last time he tore the cast off. But, it seems to be mending well on his own without it-- but I need an opinion and advice here.

I have buprenorphine in preloaded syringes from the vet, but he was a but stuffy from a minor respiratory thing going around so hes on the Amoxi for that. Do you think it would be wise to give him the Bupro with it? or wait until his sniffles clear up? can the two be even used together? Will Bupro even help with anything besides the pain?

Why cant this nightmare be over and my Boy just be healthy? Someone help...

 

[Mojojuju]

This one is outside my pervue. I hope he is okay! Will your vet take phone calls?

 

[Yami-maru]

nope. he will tell me to come in, and that can be a bil of anywhere between $50 - $90 which i dont have ; A ;

 

[Sabatea]

Try calling around to other vets. Some will talk to you over the phone or you can at least get in contact with a nurse in some places. Even if they're not your vet, they may be able to help you some...

 

[Yami-maru]

The issue is, ive called everywhere in the area and its the only vet who treats. I spent the better part of 5 hours when connor broke his foot looking for a vet that could help. and since im out out of options, I'm turning Here. I will have to open emergency commissions on my art site, or Sell a few things quick to be able to afford another trip this soon after the first one... I wish it wasnt so expensive. they treat dogs and cats for $25 and rats are twice that.

ive checked his feet this morning. hes using his front paw more, but its still swollen, and his hind leg isnt getting worse. im hoping its just a bad sprain since i cant find any sores or anything, its just swollen like all over now... and not a large amout of swelling, but still a considerable amount.

 

[Yami-maru]

Update. i think the swelling went down a bit. so we arent really thinking bumble foot, since there are no wounds or sores or anything. the swelling on his front paw has also gone down and we are back to believing it is only a sprain or minor fracture. We still are not sure what it was that caused these injuries in the first place, so it will be hard to point-point and prevent them from happening again.

Any advice on the prevention side of things?

 

[xStatic]

Does anyone know if you can give rats ibuprofen to reduce swelling? I can do some searching and try to see if it's safe but I'm sure it is if you have a way to measure out small doses like a gram scale.

ETA: A quick search and I found that rats can have ibuprofen at 15-60 mg/lb 2 to 4 times a day. If you have a small sensitive scale you can crush up a tablet and use some math to find the correct dosage. For example, assuming your rat weighs 1/2 lb and that you want to give him a 30mg/lb dose you would need 15mg of ibuprofen. Most tablets are 200mg so you need 15mg/200mg which is 7.5% of a whole tablet. So if your tablet weighs 1/2 a gram or something you would need to measure out 7.5% of 1/2 a gram which would be about 0.04 grams. This is all with made up numbers though so you would have to do your own math or I could help but it might be the best way to relieve swelling in his foot.