A bit of my rats tail came off!?

Question

It didnt happen on purpose she just got stuck in the sofa so my brother helped by lifting the sofa a bit and we found her with a bit of her tail off leaving atleast 2 inches of her bone showing.She keeps l*****g it and i could tell it hurts her because she chases it and she squeeks ALOT.We got her "triple Antibiotic ointment +pain relief" wich the petco person said will be okay if she licks it but i'm not sure.What else should i do i'm really stuck here but my brother replaced the bedding that bothered her tail with his old shirt folded neatly and she likes it plus we got her new food for her and its like a ratty hospital in there.How do i help her? its terrible that this happend and i know i should have watched her better on the sofa but please help me and i dont want some stupid answers like "kill her" or "hit her with a hammer".HELP ME!

Answer 1

Take her to the vet..NOW!!!

Answer 2

Take her to a vet immediately.

I wouldn't trust someone from Petco to advise me here, they sell their animals as feeders and don't require any sort of veterinary knowledge. That's fine for them, but pet store employees should NOT be dispensing advice about this.

Can you imagine.. part of your leg coming off and your bone sticking out? Can you imagine the awful pain you'd be in? Wouldn't you want someone to take you to a hospital immediately? That's a VERY serious injury, and she needs veterinary care.

Answer 3

I actually had this happen to me also, but I was about 10 and didn't know what the h**l I was doing. Being wiser now, I would take the rat to a vet (and never listen to Petco people). Most vet offices will allow you to call in free for advice. You can find out from the experts if this ointment is ok for you rat and if the rat will need immediate care.

My rat's tail was in about the same shape with the bone showing, then the same day it broke off. I put ointment on it after he cleaned it and the wound completely healed without any infection or obvious pain from the rat. After that the tail was rounded at the end, like a stump, but he was completely fine and recovered well. A vet would speed along the process and ensure that infection does not happen and the animal's pain is taken care of. I would imagine it would be a short and fairly inexpensive procedure with minimal follow up care.

Good luck with this, but you can be assured that after the wound is healed, your rat will be able to function and will recover just fine.

Also, when my animals don't feel well, I like to give them a few extra treats (food or attention).

Answer 4

This is what's called "tail degloving" and it's very common with rats that have their tails grabbed or snagged. Unfortunately, there is nothing that can be done to make the wound heal or skin regrow. The degloved portion of the tail must come off via amputation by a vet. There is really no other option but surgery. Sorry for the bad news.