RatCreature (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ratcreature) wrote2011-04-22 07:50 pm
ratcreature) wrote2011-04-22 07:50 pm
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recovery sucks for rats too
I'm feeling so sorry for the unfortunate Linus. He must be still in a lot of pain, because when he moves at all, he does so very, very slowly, and I just saw him attempt to stand up on his hind legs and to climb in one of the baskets he likes for sleeping, but he couldn't push himself off, and is now a picture of misery lying below the basket, exhausted from trying. I guess he would like his body to just work as before, to reach his favorite hammocks and baskets.
But at least he is walking a little and even climbing the stairs between the levels, if very slowly, when yesterday evening he only sat still and huddled in a corner. And it's only been a day since the operation after all. I probably wouldn't feel up to moving around a lot if I had a giant scar across my belly. When I told the vet during the wound check today, she said that was to be expected with this type of wound. So far he's leaving his stitches alone, and he has been eating a bit, if not with quite his normal appetite, so that's good. And the other two are gentle with him as far as I've seen.
ETA: Of course I was premature about the stitches. He was livelier later this evening, and I was surprised that he even tottered outside of the cage. Which on one hand is a good thing of course, but I suspect part of the reason he left his wound alone earlier was that it hurt him to bend over and reach that much, so as soon as I saw him outside I became suspicious of his returning mobility and checked the incision again, and it turns out he's now gnawed off some stitches on the left side. Though the wound is still closed, neither bleeding nor seeping *knocks on wood*, so I'm not too alarmed yet.
But at least he is walking a little and even climbing the stairs between the levels, if very slowly, when yesterday evening he only sat still and huddled in a corner. And it's only been a day since the operation after all. I probably wouldn't feel up to moving around a lot if I had a giant scar across my belly. When I told the vet during the wound check today, she said that was to be expected with this type of wound. So far he's leaving his stitches alone, and he has been eating a bit, if not with quite his normal appetite, so that's good. And the other two are gentle with him as far as I've seen.
ETA: Of course I was premature about the stitches. He was livelier later this evening, and I was surprised that he even tottered outside of the cage. Which on one hand is a good thing of course, but I suspect part of the reason he left his wound alone earlier was that it hurt him to bend over and reach that much, so as soon as I saw him outside I became suspicious of his returning mobility and checked the incision again, and it turns out he's now gnawed off some stitches on the left side. Though the wound is still closed, neither bleeding nor seeping *knocks on wood*, so I'm not too alarmed yet.
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I think part of what making me even more anxious than usual while having a sick rat is this long holiday weekend (here Monday after Easter is a holiday too, on top of Easter and Good Friday), which would makes getting him help harder if anything took a turn for the worse.