[kittygirl109]

My rat Piper has been showing small health issues for about a week. When I gave him a bath, I noticed cuts down his back, and he began to have minor hair loss, on his lower back and the top of his head. I thought he might have mites, so I gave him treatment.

He still has the hair missing from his head.

And now one of his toes is swollen. It doesn't look like bumble foot. And I noticed a part where it looks like pus was building up. Perhaps an infection? What should I do?

I'm worried he's getting hurt by his cage mate. There was no problems before, and they have been living together for 7 months.

 

[breyer08]

You need to take him to the vet. Especially if there are signs of infection/swelling in his foot, he will need to be put on antibiotics in order to prevent or stop the infection from getting worse. When you are at the vet, you can have them look at the hair loss and skin problems, too. (How old is Piper?)

 

[luvboyrats]

I agree a trip to the vet is in order. It could be that the boys have started to get rougher with each other. They can decide to have tussels out of the blue, especially boys. It could also be that you need to check the cage over closely. If they've chewed part of it without you noticing it, it could be that there's a sharp or rough place causing the issues. Of course any kind of skin injury can result in swelling or abscess. But then it could also be a more complicated matter, so I'd just do the vet to be sure.

 

[Storyseeker]

Take him to the vet, agreed. The abscess on his foot needs antibiotics. The vet may be able to show you how to keep it cleaned as well.

I don't know for sure, but another possibility is that the hairlessness may be a result of his cagemate barbering him.

 

[lilspaz68]

How did you treat the ectoparasites?

Did the rats stop scratching as much afterwards? How long has it been since they have been treated? You did treat all your rats right?

Was it a small toe injury and the toe swelled up pink and with a little pus pocket? Where is the injury?

You said they have lived together for 7 months, how old are they?

 

[kittygirl109]

How did you treat the ectoparasites?

Did the rats stop scratching as much afterwards? How long has it been since they have been treated? You did treat all your rats right?

Was it a small toe injury and the toe swelled up pink and with a little pus pocket? Where is the injury?

You said they have lived together for 7 months, how old are they?

I treated the suspected mites with a treatment spray I got from my local pet store.

The rats have seemed to stop scratching (or much less). I believe its been a few weeks. I treated both of the cage mates. (I have one rat in another cage I didn't treat.)

It was his middle toe, and it did have a pus pocket. His foot is just swelled up. I didn't see a cut. His toe does look better now though, although still swollen a little.

Piper should be about nine months old, and to be honest I have no idea how old Marco is. Marco is my eldest.

 

[lilspaz68]

sprays shouldn't be used ever with rats. For a few reasons. The spray itself can be inhaled by rats with their overly sensitive respiratory systems and can damage lungs, or irritate them and start a URI flare up. The other is that pet treatments are NOT regulated and many times I have heard of rats getting very ill and even dying from a so-called safe treatment.

We only suggest 2 treatments for ectoparasites, and that is Revolution for dogs/cats which is safest and easiest to use, or ivermectin which needs to be used carefully as it is much more toxic than the Revolution.

Toe injuries happen, but if they don't clear up on their own or with warm water soaks, and become very infected you need a vet.

I would advise trying to find a different treatment for your bugs just in case they return.
Good to hear the toe is resolving.