[RatWoman!123]

My rat (Jasper) is just about 3 years old and has an upper respiratory infection, he is also underweight but that is due to age and we are giving him extra love. He has been scratching her ear al lot and I just noticed a large about of blood (it is blood I checked) and a bald spot around the area. Please if you know what it is help me, we have a vet visit scheduled for tomorrow but I am freaking out and having a panic attack, he’s in my room right now and I’m making sure he doesn’t scratch. Please help me!

 

[PeekaBoo]

That’s great that you have a vet appointment, it’s hard to diagnose anything online. It could be an ear infection or mites, though with mites he’d usually be scratching other spots as well. Does he have any sign of swelling in the area? When you say bleeding from ear, do you mean from inside the ear, or from the actual external ear, or from a wound close to the ear?

 

[RatWoman!123]

He did have mites, but he was treated for that and there are no other scratching spots. It looks like he has a bit of his ear missing although he the bleeding looks from inside the ear, and there is no swelling

 

[RatWoman!123]

He has also been less active lately but that could also be old age.

 

[PeekaBoo]

Might be an ear infection, but really it’s difficult to know. Usually it would be something like an infection, but with your rat’s advanced age he may have something more serious. In that location it may be a small Zymbals gland tumor, they often lose hair in the tumor spot as well, though I imagine you’d see more swelling there… Not trying to freak you out. The reality is your boy needs to see the vet, and thankfully he will be assessed tomorrow by the expert. Hopefully it will be okay…

 

[RatWoman!123]

Thank you so much!