rats eye

[SnipSnapCrashCrack]

Hi,
On Thursday night I'd noticed that one of my rats eyes had gone cloudy/red and bulgy. On Friday he went to the vets and they said they think it's an abscess that has burst but he was fine in the morning so I'm doubting it. He also said it could be a tumour and if it is I won't see any improvement. I only got him just over a year ago at 8 weeks old He has eye drops, Baytril and painkillers and I thought he looked better yesterday. Went to him this morning to do his eye drops and his eye looks cloudy but otherwise okay when he's walking round his cage. When I go to pick him up to put his drops on it looks like the back of his eye is bulging out through the front I thought it was liquid/pus coming out but it's his eye. As soon as I put him down his eye goes in normally. He's happy enough, still playing and eating and he can close his eye perfectly. Dreading going back to the vets on Friday as I've already spent a fortune on him and I don't think I can spend much more. Has anyone got any idea what this could be? Or how much eye removal would be? I love him :(

[lljkk]

Eye removal would cost at least £150 all together and could go wrong and if the underlying cause is a tumour, would sort nothing. I thought tumours in males were unusual, though, especially a relatively young-middle aged male. It's the general anaesthetic that costs so much.

My experiences are to gently let go, go for palliative care rather than heroic measures. At one point I figured out I had spent more on each of my rat's medical needs per year than my friend paid for her horse in previous 2.5 yrs. Aack.

[SnipSnapCrashCrack]

The breeder emailed yesterday and said the eye should shrivel up if I leave it but will always be an infection risk. The back of his eye is definitely bulging out the front more today and I broke it to my 4 year old that we may have to let him go. I don't think I've ever seen him look so distraught in my life and the tears I honestly don't know what to do. If the back wasn't bulging through I would just keep it clean and keep him on antibiotics and eye drops till he goes but I'm thinking he's going to have to be put to sleep on Friday. He seems really happy, eating well, maybe a tiny bit less than usual. He's still cuddly but he's getting fed up of his eye drops. Sometimes I wish I had unlimited funds for the smaller animals. I worked out he's nearer 16months old so not as young as I thought :(

[lljkk]

Why would you put him down before he has a bad quality of life moment? Sorry you're going thru this.

[SnipSnapCrashCrack]

I just can't see him getting any better. DS wouldn't stroke him earlier because of how his eye looks :( he bawled his eyes out and ran to his room crying that garfields his best friend and I ended up crying more than him I'd managed to stay strong in front of him up till then. I've just been to check on ratty again and he is still happy as ever and I had to bribe him with a Scooby snack to stay nice and still but his eye is deteriorating. I'm wondering if the antibiotics are working :( The infection does look less yellow but his eye is define tell bulging out. I can't find anything online and I'm struggling. These are my last rats which makes it all that bit harder for me and DS. :( I can't even think about it without welling up After this I think it's probably best I stick to the no more small pets rule, the heart break never gets any easier.

[SnipSnapCrashCrack]

Just been to the vets again and am now £70 lighter. They told me that I would be cruel to let his eye dye on its own and not have it removed but they couldn't tell me a price so I will have to wait till next Friday. They don't seem to realise I don't have unlimited funds for a rat :( I have phoned the PdSA as a last ditch attempt and they said to get his eye removed and they will pay some of the bill. I keep panicking over the price still but it needs to be done. :(

[lljkk]

Did they say the eye must be causing him pain or could suddenly become very infected? I think price is fuzzy because they charge for the GA by the second, and they can't say in advance precisely how long the op will take.

So sorry you've got all this going on. have you asked on FancyRats? They are a bit militant about "no expense spared" but at least you would probably find someone who had been thru the same decisions & had an idea how things would go.

If it's a tumour then I can't see treatment being worthwhile. So sorry. Try to be comforted by the fact he has had a great life with you. Quality over quantity.

[RattieOfCatan]

Enucleation cost us under £100 both times we've have it done, both times the prices were set but I don't remember how much it was, one of those was an emergency appointment too (in Brighton, happy to recommend a vet if you're close!). Please please look at getting this done sooner rather than later. It looks like a retrobulbar abscess which will likely kill if not removed and it grows very very quickly. We lost our boy to one in November and it was horrible, he died at the end of the op but it went from bad to worse very very quickly, I think it was over a weekend, it went from swollen and noticeable on the Friday to at the vets to have it removed on Monday but it was touch and go over whether we needed to take him Sunday. His brother had had an enucleation when he was younger for other reasons and he's still stubbornly with us! They heal very quickly from the actual op if they get the chance too!

Though also consider PTS if he's old, it is very risky to put them under anaesthetic and if he's older PTS would be much kinder. Also, reoccurrance rates of abscesses are high, we did the op knowing that we could be buying Haku a month or two more, for us it was worth the chance that he wouldn't get another abcess and he wasn't yet 2 years.