My pet male rat has a very swollen back foot....please help!!!

Question

my male rat who i adore overnight has developed a very swollen back foot, there is no sign of it being broken, no broken skin, no marks, no pus, he live by himself and he is not in a wire bottom cage, i took him to the vets this morning, she didnt have a clue what it was! she gave him a anti inflam injection (meloxicom) and hoped for the best! he is still eating and when she was touching his foot he wasnt squealing so i dont think he is in to much pain.

look forward to some advice

thanks

bec & twinkle

Answer 1

Sudden severe swelling can occur from an injury or from an insect or spider bite.Swellings can also be abscesses, which can appear fairly suddenly.

http://www.ratfanclub.org/firstaid.html

Answer 2

I'd see how it goes after a day or two.  If it's still swollen it might be an abscess, but probably more likely is that he bruised it up or got a bug bite.  You should be able to tell it's an abscess if it feels squishy.  This site can better help you diagnose it: http://ratguide.com/health/integumentary...

He might also have bumblefoot which is when he gets a minor cut on his foot and it gets infected from urine and whatnot in his cage.  This site can help you decide if that's what he has.  http://exoticpets.about.com/od/careofrat...

As a side note, how experienced is your vet with rats?  You might want to find another one in the area for a second opinion if your rat doesn't get better.  A local humane society might be able to help you out, along with just doing a google search.

Hope that helps!