About Jess Expertise I can answer questions about most species of rodents. I will answer any questions about health, husbandry and welfare. I can also give advise about behaviour problems, how to overcome these and ways of enriching the life of your pet. I can help with those wanting advice about house rabbits.
Experience I have experience with rabbits, guinea pigs, rats, gerbils, hamsters and chincillas.
Education/Credentials I am qualified in animal management, I work as a veterinary nurse.
Expert: Jess Date: 8/12/2006 Subject: injured wild rat
Question Hi Jess,
My daughter rescued what we think is a young brown rat frome the neighborhood cat the other day. At first I thought she was a field or wood mouse but decided today that it must be a rat. Nevertheless its a rodent and desperately needs help. She had a deep gash in her hind leg so we doctored her up gave her water and hamster food and kept her safe and warm for two days. She seemed ok so we let her go. The next day my daughter once again rescued the same rat (or field mouse) from the same (dasterdly) cat. This time she lost half her tail and needless to say was quite shocked. The problem is she has been chewing on her leg makeing it worse and seems unusually quite for a rat. At first we were using peroxide and neosporin on her leg but we have graduated to fresh alo vera and honey. (honey being a natural astringent and the aloe for healing and itching) Tonight we hand fed her water with a dropper and got her to eat a little bit of a cherrie and we forced a few drops of gatorade down her. I know that last part sounds crazy but I'm working from the premise that rats matabolize the same as humans do and she seemed dehydrated to me. The fact that the gatorade made her fighting mad and got a hearty squak out of her gave me hope. I really did not want to take her (a wild rat) to a vet and rack up a big vet bill. So far these past 6 months my daughter (dubbed Elli May)has rescued 6 baby birds, a kitten, 2 turtles (which the same cat ate) a lizzard and now a rat. So I'd just assume manage it w/o vet bills. So my question is are we doing the right things? Does she need antibiotics? Do they give rats antibiotics? Is the honey idea off the wall?(we got that idea off the internet) What should we try to feed an injured wild rat that is terified? My daughter made a collar to keep her from chewing her leg but the rat got quite upset about that idea and it wasn't effective. She is currently housed in a 10 gallon aqarium with hamster litter and food (which she wont eat) As you can see we are grappeling for ideas and direction I'm not sure if it is worth trying to save her because of the damage to her leg. I would greatly appreciate any advice or input you could give me. One more thing... this animal lets my daughter hold her and handle her in any way and has from the start and even though we have allways affectionately referred to my kid as the animal whisperer this seems rather odd to me. Should'nt it be mad and aggresive and trying to bite all of us? strange... I look forward to your responce.
Thanks so much
Cindy
Answer Hi cindy, this is such a sad story. To be honest, at the least this rat will need antibiotics, lots of pain relief and fluids to fight shock and infection. An injured wild rat will be in shock and it may be why she isn't showing aggression. When wild animals don't show aggression its a very bad thing and usually means they are close to death. This rat could also need surgery, which in my opinion could be too stressful for a wild rat so the kinder thing could be to get the little thing put to sleep. The fact that she won't eat the food is also a very bad sign and it sounds like she is in a lot of pain and probably already has an infection. A rat with an infection will have a fever and won't feel like eating, that combined with shock just isn't good. It sounds like the poor thing is really suffering and it would be kinder to end the suffering unless you are going to pay for it to be treated. Though I think most vets would recommend putting it to sleep as the kindest thing. Rats have a very fast metabolism so if they go for a few hours without food then they are literally starving to death and fading away. The fact that the rat is chewing its leg indicates that it must be in unbearable pain. At the very least the rat needs vet treatment asap but most vets will euthanise injured wild animals for free as they don't belong to anyone and don't want to see them suffer. Explain to your daughter that handling the rat is causing it a lot of stress as it is in pain and is probably terrified. The same goes for all wild animals, handle as little as possible as even handling can cause shock which can kill. It sounds like her leg would need amputated which would be a major operation and would probably prove too stressful for a wild rat, even if she did survive there's no way she could ever be released. Sometimes there's only so much we can do and euthanasia would end her suffering and its very quick and humane. At least she wouldn't die slowly and painfully from an infection or the shock and pain. I hope that you are able to make the right decision and that it's not too hard. Good luck
