rat update

[ratcreature]

Because the wound area has been really swollen over the weekend I brought Ignatz in to the vet again this afternoon. I didn't think it was an emergency because he was eating and behaving mostly okay. Turns out it wasn't swelling but the wound had bled internally. So the vet drew a disturbingly huge amount of blood from the wound in a syringe. (It was at least a full human size syringe, and that from a rat!) The vet said however that the bleeding itself must have stopped already, otherwise Ignatz wouldn't still be alive. I hope he's right about the bleeding, and that Ignatz will now heal okay. In any case I suspect Ignatz is now more comfortable without all that blood in the wound pressing on things, though once we got home he just hid in his house. But then I suppose I would feel really crappy with such blood loss too. If you have any good health vibes to spare, Ignatz could certainly use them.

Comments

[cereta]

Sending!

[ratcreature]

Thanks! I worry so much about him, that it may not be okay after all but get worse again with whatever went wrong inside the wound.

And he hasn't been very lively tonight, but then that could be just because he needs to heal and recover and is weak from the bleeding. He's still eating and drinking though, so that's something, and he seems to try his best to hang in there. I just wish I could do something more for him. :( I mean, I already feel guilty that I didn't bring him in for the emergency hours with the swelling when it turned out to be actually bleeding inside the wound, though I'm not sure whether they would (or could) have even done anything more than drain some of the blood earlier.

[idlerat]

I hope Ignatz Rat feels better soon.

[ratcreature]

Unfortunately it looks as if the bleeding inside the wound hasn't stopped after all, at least it has swollen again. I didn't manage to bring him to the vet today or rather yesterday by now (unfortunately daily vet visits are sometimes hard to arrange, I mean, I've been to the vet for him twice on Thursday, once Friday, again Monday...), and am now spending a sleepless night, waiting for it to be morning so that I can bring him to the vet again. I just hope they can fix this, otherwise I'm going to feel really guilty about not somehow bringing him in earlier. Sometimes having pets really sucks. :(

[droolfangrrl.livejournal.com]

um... feed him stuff with lots of iron maybe?

[ratcreature]

Hm yeah, I probably should have gotten a tube of that high calory nutrition paste for recovery that my rats like...

[iamza.livejournal.com]

Oh, poor rat! I hope he feels better after a rest.

[ratcreature]

I hope so too. Rats are certainly resilient. I mean, I can't imagine how I'd feel if I was in advanced age, they then cut a tumor that's about half the size of my head out of me, and then lost a bucket full of blood...

[iamza.livejournal.com]

Yeah, not fun. I don't think I'd like to have a tumor cut out of me no matter what my age!

It feels strange to think of Ignatz as old -- seems like just yesterday, he was the new rat in town.

[ratcreature]

Yeah, they live so much shorter than humans. Or even some other pets. :(

So it is always kind of hard that you see them grow old so fast with all the problems that come with that. OTOH it's not only a bad thing that you only commit for 2-3 years with rats. I mean, how could I be sure that I could properly care for a cat the next two decades?

[hugglewolf.livejournal.com]

Poor rat. *sends loving vibes* To him and you/1 *snuggles*

[ratcreature]

Thank you. I worry a lot that he may not be okay after all but get worse again with whatever went wrong inside the wound. :(

[patk.livejournal.com]

>>The vet said however that the bleeding itself must have stopped already, otherwise Ignatz wouldn't still be alive. <<

Oh mein Gott, erst hinterher zu erfahren, wie ernst die Situation gewesen ist. Du musst dir vorgekommen sein, wie der Reiter über den Bodensee. Ich drück weiterhin die Daumen für Ignatz.

[ratcreature]

Ja, ich hätte wohl genauer nach Warnzeichen fragen sollen, als ich ihn wieder nach Hause nahm, aber mir war nicht mal klar dass die Wunde auch nur innen bluten kann, und außen trotzdem kein Blut zu sehen ist. Ich hoffe nur dass der Arzt recht hat, weil das schon am Samstag und Sonntag noch dicker geworden war, also muss das wohl langsam geblutet haben. Und weil alles auch nachdem der Tierarzt Blut abgelassen hat etwas dicker als normal war, fällt mir es auch schwer zu beurteilen ob es jetzt unverändert bleibt.

Danke fürs Daumendrücken.

[patk.livejournal.com]

Sch ... ade. Da bleibt nur intensive Beobachtung übrig. Und wieder zum Tierarzt, wenn's dubios aussieht.

[ratcreature]

Sieht leider nicht gut aus. Heut war ich den Tag über nicht zu Hause und hab's leider nicht geschafft ihn zum Tierarzt zu bringen (jeden Tag zum Tierarzt ist auch schwierig einzurichten) und mit nen paar Stunden Distanz ist schon offensichtlicher dass es nicht okay ist. Morgen früh bring ich ihn dann wieder hin und hoffe dass die ihm dann noch irgendwie helfen können. Wenn nicht kann ich mich nur schuldig fühlen... :(