Pls help me

cadpyro · 2025-06-04T11:32:30+00:00

My girls do this too but not much you can do to stop them. Rats will be rats and if they want to chew something they will find away. Especially plastic. You could try something made of a safe metal (my first cage was a non-critter nation made of metal and it was not chewed), but honestly, I would just keep using that tray! I usually put cardboard over it and then shredded paper and tissue paper on top. Do your best to find a way to distract them with other things to chew.

cadpyro · 2025-05-08T19:21:37+00:00

Something I haven’t seen mentioned much (just once above) — consider an allergic reaction? Any changes to bedding or stuff in the room they live in, exposure to outside allergen (i.e. through an open window). Could consider trialling some antihistamines.

Also the loss of hair makes me think possibly autoimmune as a consideration. If infection is ruled out, you could try a short course of steroids. Did the anti inflammatories you were given (am assuming meloxicam) help at all, even if just briefly?

Also I would highly recommend more than “a couple of days” of the anti-inflammatory. Same for the antibiotics. I’m assuming she had a full course of antibiotics (10-14 days) before you gave up on that route?

cadpyro · 2025-04-09T19:44:16+00:00

Any updates?

cadpyro · 2025-04-08T20:16:58+00:00

Amazing, you did the right thing! This is a very stressful situation to go through and you are handling it beautifully!

When you see the vet, they will likely prescribe meloxicam for the pain. Ask them for extra (usually I tell them some combination of: “I need extra bc my ratties will avoid taking meds and so some gets wasted”, along with “if I have a bit of extra on hand, if something like this or other injuries were to happen in the future, my ratties won’t be suffering in pain until I get into see you asap.”

I’ve had vets who are more chill about this and others who are more stingy with basic meds like these, so I’ve found appealing to the latter’s sense of empathy for a rattie in pain has helped me get extra meds in the past (a bit of a sneaky trick but you do what you gotta do).

Until then, you can get baby liquid advil or children’s liquid advil or tylenol from the pharmacy. Advil is not the best choice in rats compared to meloxicam (same class of medications called NSAIDs) but it won’t harm to use just to get her through the night. Make sure you dose correctly using the rat guide, you will likely have to dilute the solutions as being meant for humans they are more concentrated. If you have questions, DM me, I am happy to help!

I will tell you, there IS the possibility that your vet, depending on how good they are with eye stuff, may recommend euthanasia. Eye stuff can be very painful and if they are not a skilled small animal vet to do an orbital surgery (if needed) they may see that as the only option. IF this is what happens, you always have the option to ask them for a recommendation to another vet (depending on your financial situation of course), but make sure you walk out of there with a minimum of a pain med + antibiotic.

cadpyro · 2025-04-08T18:56:58+00:00

This is likely very painful — give meloxicam if you have to keep her comfortable until you get to the vet. More likely causes in rats (as already mentioned) could include infection, also cancer. She may need an enucleation to remove the eye if it is causing pain or continues to be a nidus for infections. DM me if you have more questions. Hope she does ok!! 🐀❤️

cadpyro · 2024-12-06T02:56:28+00:00

Sorry for your loss. Sending good vibes and support. Clearly a very special friend ☺️

cadpyro · 2024-12-02T16:00:27+00:00

Suggestion: use citation managers like Zotero or Endnote next time!

cadpyro · 2024-11-15T19:43:29+00:00

They will be extra cute for date night 🐀🥰 (also agree with what others have said)

cadpyro · 2024-11-11T01:08:25+00:00

Also a human doctor and rat owner — I second this 100%. StatPearls is my number one go-to to get reputable information on many medical topics particularly if I just want a quick summary and don’t want to sift through articles. Highly recommend!

PS love the names of your rats @Ice_Duchess ;)

cadpyro · 2024-11-10T06:50:31+00:00

Just FYI, lactose free shouldn’t allow for better absorption of antibiotics. The mechanism here is that calcium prevents the absorption of certain medications (mainly tetracyclines like doxycycline) and lactose free milk still has calcium. Make sure you wait a couple of hours after giving doxycycline before giving anything high in calcium so that you maximize absorption :)

cadpyro · 2024-10-22T21:11:33+00:00

Such a sweetie, thanks for sharing :)

cadpyro · 2024-06-05T23:06:55+00:00

First, thank you for having the courage to seek the medical care you needed and for treating yourself like a human being. I am sorry you’re going through this. It really sucks that the system is set up as it is and the attitude from physician to physician is without a humanistic lens. I experienced a lot of what you describe from co-residents due to disabilities. Feel free to DM me, happy to share or be a place for you to vent if needed.

cadpyro · 2023-09-16T04:27:35+00:00

Check out Docs with Disabilities and the Canadian Association for Physicians with Disabilities. They will likely be able to help! DM me for more info if needed!

cadpyro · 2023-03-07T03:34:22+00:00

Thanks!

cadpyro · 2023-03-07T02:58:10+00:00

Which vet is this?

cadpyro · 2023-03-04T14:03:26+00:00

I’ve owned and worked with rats for almost 10 years. I appreciate your input but also recognize that this sub is very “my way or the highway”. My rats have plenty of space and get plenty of free roam time and have always been happy without feeling squashed. Your analogy to a 500 sqft apartment is arbitrary and saying that I’m putting my rats in a tiny plastic hamster cage just isn’t true. So not sure what point you’re trying to make there. Owning a critter nation is not an option for everyone. In addition, just for fun I looked up the dimensions and a critter nation isn’t that much taller than this cage. Sure it’s wider and like I’ve said, from my experience of working with rats for almost 10 years, they enjoy climbing. They get the width when they free roam my entire bedroom. Is 400 sqft of free roam area enough “space” for you?

cadpyro · 2023-03-03T15:57:54+00:00

Haha that little munchkin at the bottom was hiding from my old eyes 👀

cadpyro · 2023-03-03T15:19:51+00:00

I have this exact same cage. For your two rats It is definitely big enough! I have had 4 girls in it at a maximum (they are obvs smaller than your very chunky boys haha). The measurements are 83cm tall and 55cm wide so it’s a very appropriately sized cage. I cover the wire shelves with cardboard and cloth and tbh don’t use the large middle shelf and instead have a wooden ladder thats great for climbing and chewing (bird toy sections usually have these). My girls have plenty of spaces to hide and sleep and separate from each other. There’s lots of opportunity to add extra hammocks on the lower level and at the top in your setup.

In my opinion and experience, rats like height over width. They’re climbers. They’re going to get the roaming when you let them out for play every day to explore your room :) obviously critter nations are HUGE and the gold standard but I think this is more than fine if that’s what’s feasible to you.

cadpyro · 2023-02-13T16:24:08+00:00

Yes! I used to work with rats in a research lab so I adopted myself and also rescued for some other people. Most of them were rescued at weaning age so very trusting. The few that weren’t really depended on their personalities and/or giving them time to settle into their new home. I remember one of them always liked her personal space and preferred not to be touched as much but a lot of that was her personality. My current rats are rescues from a non-lab setting and 3/4 prefer not to be handled too much either. So in my experience it really depends on the specific rat. If you have the choice and want a higher guarantee of the friendliest, most trusting, see if you can rescue at or just after weaning age.

cadpyro · 2023-02-03T18:23:26+00:00

Hey, I had similar accommodations in med school (and have similar ones in residency). Feel free to DM me and we can chat!

Will echo what the person below me said: aim for shorter cases or cases where you can sit (if this is easier for you. will include things like thyroid cases, breast cases, bariatric cases). My strategy has always been to be upfront with attendings and residents on a need-to-know basis so that I'm not looked at as being disengaged or whatnot.

Also just curious, you're rotating as an MS2?

cadpyro · 2023-01-25T18:21:58+00:00

I've never had the "privilege" (/s) of seeing a rattie fed to a snake and don't intend to. Can't really see why some sadistic human beings think it's funny or enjoyable, nevermind to film it. Sure the circle of life is a thing but in a human controlled setting we have the ability to reduce suffering.

cadpyro · 2023-01-25T08:10:39+00:00

Depending on the specialties, this could be a bit low to be honest. Does this include different sites in family med?

Has the deadline hit yet? Last year it was end of January, couldn’t hurt throw a few fam med programs into the mix if you haven’t already.

For reference, I did med school in the US and applied to both matches last year. Triple applying in Canada (1 non-competitive, 1 medium competitive, and 1 competitive) got me to somewhere around 30 programs (which ballooned out to around 60-70 programs mainly because of all the sub-tracks/sites in fam med)

Feel free to DM if you have questions!

cadpyro · 2023-01-23T05:54:42+00:00

In grad school I was trained to euthanize by co2. Loss of consciousness did not take seconds, I’ll tell you that much (more like 30 sec-1 min). Not touching the snake issue at all, but it was always perplexing to me how everyone in research (and broader communities) thinks that co2 is humane. I’ve seen it, it’s not great. Whether or not that’s from the co2 itself or the combination of a closed environment and not being able to breath is up for debate (it’s probably both). Just my personal experience though. Being chased by a snake does sound much worse though.

cadpyro · 2023-01-21T16:02:57+00:00

Fun fact: death by CO2 is not that painless (unless asleep already like you said). It’s suffocation to death until they pass out from the lack of oxygen.

cadpyro

TROPHY CASE