10-12 Month Old Girly Blood Spotting From Vagina

[Raii-nbow-xx]

Heyy guys, not been on here in a while, but i am looking for some guidance. As it's so late at night, my vets are not open until tomorrow morning, and was wondering if anyone could help me, or settle my worries in the meantime.
I recently adopted two girlies on the 29th from this woman who couldn't keep them anymore, they are approximately 12 months old, very relaxed rats and look bright and bubbly in themselves. One of them called Lilly got slightly stressed out and after calming her down with cuddles I noticed some blood spotting from her vagina , only a little bit but as i'm a worrier, I tend to need reassurance to settle my mind. Their past owner told me that Lilly had previously suffered with high blood pressure, but she got told to reduce stuff from her diet as she was feeding her way too much fatty foods with lots of salt. I'm feeding them a healthy mixture of ratty food from a respectable breeder i know, and none of it should have an affect on her, as i've been especially careful knowing her past health.
Someone please give me some reassurance, tips or anything so I can stop stressing, or help her.
Thank you
Rach
Mummy to Ebony, Miah, Roddy, Lilly & Loki
admin aide note: bold tags removed, please only use bold to highlight text.

[acapae_wolf]

Do you have any ABs to hand?
I would take her into your vets as an emergency tomorrow morning.

Vaginal bleeding can be caused my many things, but unless pus is also coming out with the blood (open pyometeria) it can only be diagnosed in hindsight. Possible other causes are closed pyometeria, other infections, uterine/ ovarian tumours, uterine/ovarian polyps and cancer.
[pyometeria (pyo) = infection to the point of the womb being pus-filled. Often used as a catch-all term for vaginal bleeding on the forum]

I would have her spayed in the next couple of days. Sometimes a strong course of ABs can cure the problem, but in something like 80% of times the rat ends up needing to be spayed anyway. And in my opinion it's better to spay when the problem first appears and the rat is stronger than waiting a week or so while the rat gets weaker. ABs are also only going to be successful if it's an infection where no pus is present (pus can be there and not emerge), and you can't tell the cause without opening them up...

Do you know what your vet is like surgery-wise?

I don't quite know how you'd diagnose a rat with high blood pressure, but from the diet she'd been on it may have been higher than usual. Either way diet won't be the cause of this. Well done for noticing.

I'd pop her and a friend in a low-level hospital cage tonight with something yummy and keep an eye on her. And then take her in to the vets first thing tomorrow

[Raii-nbow-xx]

Thank-you for replying so quick
I have no medicine for them as all of my babies have been healthy up to now (fingers crossed), The only medicine i've had is Baytril for my girly Miah, as when she was little had respiratory problems, but thats all gone now.
First thing in the morning I will book her an appointment, and get Loki seen to aswel, as I need to get them both checked over.
Now about Spaying... I know saying a rat can help them in so many ways, for example with tumors etc, but I'm so scared that something might go wrong, or they don't pull through from the surgery. Could you please pass some facts too me about spaying girls .
I'll have too double check what my vets are like for surgery, as they have recently moved places, and got new staff. I'll have a good pry at them tomorrow whilst i'm there.
Thank you so much for all the information you have given me
your a star
Rach xx


Note: bold tags removed to meet the Forum Rules. Posts made all in colour/bold/italic can be difficult for some members to read, and distracts from the flow of a thread, use of these tags should be restricted to occasional emphasis only.

[acapae_wolf]

Now about Spaying... I know saying a rat can help them in so many ways, for example with tumors etc, but I'm so scared that something might go wrong, or they don't pull through from the surgery. Could you please pass some facts too me about spaying girls

Your only other option is to start a course of strong ABs in the morning when you go to the vet. However that will only do anything if the cause of the bleeding is an infection that hasn't reached the pus stage yet. Which you can't diagnose... And as said above, the vast majority of the time when you try ABs first, they need spaying anyway as the drugs themselves don't sort the problem. In this scenario the spay isn't about increasing lifespan or decreasing the liklihood of hormone-driven lumps, but saving their life.

The risk of surgery is always a worry (I've had 3 rats with vaginal bleeding needing emergency spays in the last 10 months!), but it is really the only guaranteed option when faced with vaginal bleeding She's young though, and sounds in good health otherwise, so with a good vet the risk of the spay should be considerably less than attempting to treat with drugs alone.

The bleeding is very serious, but unfortunately just one of those things that does or doesn't happen, and not down to anything you may have/ not done. Not all that helpful, but certainly not something to blame yourself over

I don't know your area, but if you use the search option or also look in the subforum [http://www.fancy-rats.co.uk/community/v ... .php?f=126] you may find reccomended rat-savvy vets near you. Not all vets are up on rat things as they don't get very much time at all on them in vet school.

[Amzy]

I'd like to highlight the importance of getting to a vet asap in the morning. I lost a girl today whom nearing the end was bleeding from her vagina. I lost her before I could get to a vet in time. My girl was started on ABs last Thurs as she was a little 'off' however only started bleeding today.

Like Beri said, it can be a number of things/infections. I've had infections before where there are traces of blood in urine, which have been cleared up with a course of ABs however today the girl I lost had fresh blood coming from her vagina.

Sorry to sound so blunt. I hope she gets better soon.

x

[acapae_wolf]

How did it go at the vets?

[lauren23]

I had a girl who was bleeding from her vagina and it turned out to be a very bad UTI. Good luck at the vets!

[acapae_wolf]

I had a girl who was bleeding from her vagina and it turned out to be a very bad UTI.

If it was a UTI she will have been bleeding from her urethra not her vagina

[philosophyfox]

Is there any update on your girl?

[acapae_wolf]

How're things?