ratcreature | well, this was fairly pointless

So I brought Ignatz in to my vet during their emergency hours today, and even though I showed up right after they opened I had to wait almost two hours to be seen. Then I had the bad luck that on the emergency roster wasn't one of the practice's vets of whom I know they are experienced with rats, but someone unfamiliar. Anyway, after feeling that cherry-sized bulge the vet told me she thought it might be a tumor rather an abscess because it is right where the thyroid gland is, and also didn't feel warm to her, even though I stressed how I'm sure it just appeared yesterday rather than growing. She said something of tumors sometimes first growing inward and then suddenly bulging outward -- it sounded dubious to me, but it's not like I'm an expert.

In any case, she said whether tumor of abscess, the placement of the thing was tricky because so many vital nerves, blood vessels and such were there, so it was more problematic to open and remove, and as Ignatz is still breathing and eating okay it's not an emergency, and they can't do that kind of thing on the weekend so I'd need to make an appointment for a regular operation. The earliest date I could get for one wasn't until Thursday (!), which I find quite worrying, I mean that is almost a week, so when the assistant told me that I even had her talk to the doctor again, whether it wasn't dangerous to wait this long to do anything, but she didn't seem to think so.

I really hope she's right. It's not like I can do anything further, though I have no idea why they couldn't at least, like biopsy the thing by sticking a needle in to see whether pus comes out or not or something, without it being a big risk, but apparently that wouldn't be a good idea. I guess I'll just have to wait and hope for the best until Thursday.

I wonder whether these people who claim pets are good for your health ever take into account the times when you're a stressed, nervous wreck because something is unexpectedly wrong with them. I think I rather need something like a tribble, only sterile or neutered/spayed or whatever people do to keep pet tribbles responsibly without causing ecological disasters. It would be small enough for my place, furry and calming, and most importantly they seem quite resilient, unless you poison them.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Oh Ignatz! It is so infuriating and frustrating and terrifying and exhausting when your vet doesn't seem particularly clueful, and you feel that you have to do your job and your vet's job, too. (I have cats and I'm in the process of finding a new vet because it's reached the point where enough is enough.) But I'm glad to hear that he feels good!

Yes. Or what are those HP ones... Puffskeins? Fluffpuffsomethings. I bet they're actually tribbles, crossedover, like.

The two main vets in the practice are quite experienced with rats, it's a bit away from me so not the most convenient, but I go there because two of the breeders I know from the local rat club recommended them. And mostly they have been good with my rats. But of course you can't pick when you drop in on their weekend emergency hours, and there are three other vets working there too.

If it looks like it's getting worse I'll call them early next week and try to speak with one of the vets I know more or bring Ignatz in, but it's not like I have a real basis to think she was wrong or anything, or that they should be doing something right now.

Gah! I *hate* when you go to a health professional (either pet or human) and end up feeling like they're blowing you off (or don't know what the fuck they're talking about and are just blowing smoke up your ass to cover their ignorance)!

Hope everything turns out okay with the wee rattie one!

Thanks. Mostly I just hate that I have to wait and worry for so long.

I mean, it could be a tumor of course, older rats are prone to them, and I can see how they can't just open up some boil (or whatever will turn out to be) on the fly in a delicate area during the weekend as emergency operation when the rat's still lively, and eats and breathes more or less okay, just because I'm freaked out that my rat suddenly has a cherry-sized lump on his throat.

Mostly the practice has been doing okay with my rats -- and far better than some of the vets I encountered in the past when I first had rats and wasn't smart enough to ask other rat owners for good vets, but just assumed they'd know what they were doing, e.g. once a vet operated one of my rats and she never recovered properly from the anesthesia, because they injected a dose, which is nearly impossible to calculate for such a small animal, instead of using a gas mix that is more expensive and requires extra monitoring but wears off quickly, but back then I didn't know to ask about that kind of thing. And that kind of thing is not uncommon. So I just have to trust them, because finding out about another practice that has a more open schedule for faster treatment *and* has lots of experience with rats is not likely.

I mean, when my former rat Krümel had this abscess within his eye when he was just a year or so, the regular vet there managed to remove that but save the eye, rather than just removing the eye and be done with it, so they really do their best even for small rodents.

Thanks. *hugs back*

It's awful to feel so helpless when your pet is sick. Poor Ignatz. I hope he'll be alright.

Thanks. I hate that I have to wait until Thursday, otoh it's not like I don't understand that they can't magically make extra slots appear in their schedule, and he doesn't seem to be on death's door so that they'd rearrage everything.

I remember when I had an abscessed tooth, it took a full two weeks to get an appointment with an oral surgeon, iirc. Two very painful weeks...

*hugs* I hope Ignatz will be okay! Hang in there.

Thanks, I hope so too.

*sends good thoughts*

Thanks , he can certainly use them.

Urk, that sucks. I hope Ignatz is okay!

If it is an abcess, is there a chance it could heal itself over the next few days without any intervention from the vet?

*hugs*

Not really. I mean, they need to be drained of pus before they can heal, just like when we get abscesses, they don't just vanish. They can of course break open, so that they are a wound you can clean. Last time I had it happen that a rat had an abscess that the vet wasn't sure was one but thought was a tumor and didn't want to operate because it was right next to its penis (that this has happened to me before that a vet thought "tumor" when it turned out an abscess without a surface wound is also part of why I'm dubious now), it eventually broke open and the most horrible smelling greenish pus oozed out. Actually at home it only scabbed and oozed a little, and when I brought the rat to the vet who then acknowledged it wasn't a tumor, removed the scab and cleaned it of the horrible, more solid pus, that they had to flush out. If they break open through the skin that is gross, but I think in theory they can also open to the interior, which then of course leads to sepsis and such, just like when humans have things like a burst appendix that empties into the body.

ohhhh...! I hope he'll be all right.

Yeah, me too. As they get older they just have more and more trouble, and of course it gets harder for them to bounce back, as for it is for everyone.

Sometimes I really regret that they are so short-lived. OTOH, I really like rats' good sides as pets, and more pragmatically, even puttin aside that I'm not allowed cats or dogs in my place, it's not just a bad thing to commit to a pet for two or three years rather than two decades.

But I hope he'll hang in there a while still. *crosses fingers*

It's frustrating when the experts tell you one thing and your instincts tell you another, because they automatically go into 'patronise the parent' mode - and that just makes you feel either insulted or dim but also with nothing to do but go along. I'm sure ratty will be fine, but if you get a tribble someplace can I have one too? I'll pay postage. I can take him to work and he can sit in my intray. At least my colleagues won't try to pinch one of them and hide it somewhere.

*hugs you*

Thanks. A tribble would be so nice. Well, provided they can be neutered. I wouldn't want an exponentially growing number of tribbles. But since they get "pregnant" I just assume their reproductive system would have some sort of organ you could take out. I suppose if I ever find one I could have let mine have its first litter (the one they are born with) and give those away, and then get it fixed quickly afterwards... lol.

well, this was fairly pointless

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject