Rat abscess?

Question

My rat has an abscess on his back from a fight with the others. A lot of sites seem to suggest treating it myself. Has anyone else done this? any advice? My local vet knows very little about rats, i was very disappointed the last time i took one of my boys there.

Answer 1

Your rat is sick, you need to discard it and buy a new one. That might cause or spread diseases that will harm human life.

Answer 2

Get some ointment, specially formulated for rats, follow the instructions until a/ he gets better, then stop or b/ he gets worse then stop and try a different brand.

Answer 3

No, you can't treat an abscess by yourself because the rat will need antibiotics.  Even a cat and dog vet should be able to deal with an abscess, but it is not the ideal situation.

The ideal situation would be to take your rat in to the vet and have the vet drain the abscess.  If the vet uses anesthetic to do this make sure that he uses a safe anesthetic like isoflourane (no injectable anesthetics, just inhaled).

Then, you'll want to flush the abscess daily with a dilute poviodine or chlorhexidine solution.  You can purchase both of these through the vet, or in a human pharmacy's first aid section.  You want the abscess to heal from the inside out, otherwise it may just close up and fill with pus again.

http://ratguide.com/health/integumentary...

Answer 4

Abscess information:

http://www.rmca.org/Articles/abcess.htm

http://ratguide.com/health/integumentary...