[kancerr]

my brown rat(the one has cancer) well she had a couple scratches from when i tried to introduce her to my hairless(this was before i knew she had cancer). and her scratches looked like they were healing on their own so i didnt do anything but run some water over em. i took a closer look at her today(normally i let her be and just feed/clean her cage, she is afraid or everything and i just want her to be happy while shes here so i normally only inspect her tumors on her underbelly once a week(which are also getting worse/more are appearing, and side nowhere else) but the scratches have scabbed over very big and look a little infected and the hair around them is thinning. i dont know what to do for her to make em heal better. is neosporin okay for rats? should i take her to the vets and may be try to get antibiotics? i need to take the hairless to the vets for her annual check up any ways, may be i can just ask for some? or will neosporin do it? any suggestion are greatly appreciated, breaks my heart to watch her suffer any more than she already is.

 

[Forensic]

Neosporin is fine for rats, but if the infection in inside, putting it on the scab won't help.

 

[kancerr]

thx

 

[Pomperella]

yeah maybe take her to the vet for some baytril or something, she may need oral antibiotics. hope she gets better soon

 

[IceLore]

Sometimes, when a rat gets a scratch, because it's under the fur, the scab gets really big and looks icky. Try soaking it off with a warm washcloth, dabbing it with peroxide, and then putting a bit of neosporin on it. Don't use too much though, as he will most likely groom it off anyway.

 

[2manyrats]

I wouldn't use peroxide - peroxide kills new cell growth important for keeping the wound shut so that it doesn't get infected more. Both my doctor and my vet told me peroxide should only be used on new, very dirty wounds. Otherwise, alcohol is a good disinfectant.

 

[IceLore]

Alcohol burns.

Peroxide does kill new cells, but he point of using it in this case is to dry the wound, and since it is just a surface scratch and you wouldn't be using it excessively or for a long time, it doesn't hurt it. Those scratches from nails and such can't really be 'kept closed' because they are so small. It's not like they are a gash or anything, or I just misunderstood the problem.

 

[Forensic]

Peroxide burns too. Anything that kills the baddies burns.

Searing the top flesh of certain types of wounds is actually a good thing. Punctures, for example, should be kept open.

 

[IceLore]

Of course punctures and abscess and such should be kept open.

I guess there is just something wrong with me then, because peroxide has never burned me. I can fell the bubblies with it, but with alcohol, oh gods. It hurts so bad.

 

[Forensic]

I think peroxide, by killing the top cells, acts as it's own numbing agent... If you use it in a dilute mix, it hurts too. Well, me at least. :lol:

 

[IceLore]

*note to self* Never use dilute mix. Built in numbing I can go for. lol

Usually on the rare times I cut myself, its on of those "hmmm....should I go to the hospital and get stitches?" kind of cut though, so the force of the blood cleans it out for me. ....fun. o.0

 

[Forensic]

:lol:

I'm a klutz, so random nicks/scratches/bleeding stuff is pretty much normal.

 

[IceLore]

I haven't cut myself in years, and last night I almost took the tip of my thumb off, or at least hat's what it felt like. *cringe* I herd the knife on the bone. I was not pleased, and the last apple in the house was useless to me. How sad.