[Mana]

I got home with Rokk about an hour ago. The vet said the neutering went very well, the area is sutured with glue and two small staples, which will be taken out in 2 weeks. Monday we have a post-op appointment. I was given Baytril to give to him daily. They put a little cone around his neck, and he hates it.. plus everyone here made fun of him! Poor baby.

He's still very groggy and out of it, but he keeps making rounds in his cage, sniffing everything and seeming anxious. Then he heads back into his igloo and curls up for a while. I arranged the shelves in his cage so he can't get up there, and he's just stuck on the bottom level, since they told me to restrict his activity. He already ate a piece of carrot that my sister gave him when she brought over Bella, who I'm rat-sitting for this weekend (I started a rat trend in my family! :lol: ) and now he's eating a piece of shrimp I scavenged for him from dinner, so no worries about him not eating. And it may suck for him, but honestly, I much prefer how he looks without his little boys! ^^;;

Some questions though. I have Carefresh in the bottom of his cage, but now that he's back and moving around I'm wondering if maybe I should ditch that and just use fabric. Will Carefresh dirty his wound too much? Or aggravate it? Also, is it necessary for him to stay on one level? Or tomorrow should I put his cage back to normal so he can climb around a bit?

How difficult is it to give rats the Baytril? I have a little syringe to inject it into his mouth.. how do I go about administering that? If he isn't liking that much, could I mix it with something, like a little oatmeal?

I'll probably have more questions as time goes on. This is my first neutered rat, and my first time being the sole caregiver of any animal who has had any type of surgery... plus I'm a worry wort :roll:

 

[lilspaz68]

Well I am glad they gave you baytril...welcome to the world of medicating rats. Of course you can mix the baytril into a tiny bit of oatmeal. Make sure its a small amount of food so he doesn't stop eating and gets the entire dose. Something we all learn.

No pain meds? Just an E-collar? Sigh. How long is your guy supposed to wear that? He won't need it long at all, plus rats really really hate them. You watch those staples, often rats will pull them out themselves well before 14 days. I always had mine removed at 7 days until I told my vet do NOT use them anymore.

Within a couple of days he should be more himself. If I do, I only restrict movement for a day then back to normal.

I usually put mine on fleece personally, nothing to get stuck in the incision. Expect that nice neat incision to open up a bit when he gets more active, thats normal. It will heal don't worry.
Here is my Bear the night of his surgery

and here he is 7 months later

 

[Mana]

Rokk is back to normal today, and I'm much less worried

I was concerned about the lack of pain meds, but honestly he has been fine today. He's acting just like he did before the surgery. He does hate the collar though, and keeps trying to get it off. He's supposed to wear it for two weeks, until the staples are removed. He can't eat very well, because he can't get his hands up to his face, so he's learned to improvise by just taking bites while it's on the ground. When we go in Monday, I'm going to ask about removing it sooner.

And since he was so normal today, I gave him the rest of his cage back, although I arranged it for minimal climbing around.

I decided to start right with the oatmeal instead of trying to squirt it into his mouth, which I'm sure he wouldn't like. He loved the oatmeal! So I'm going to keep doing that. I like that taking his medicine is a treat for him

Thanks for the pictures. I'm glad it will heal up so well!