(no subject)
I am playing the waiting game.
Mingus is in surgery, or going in to surgery as I type this. This surgery today will determine whether or not he needs to be euthanized.
I am typing this all out to pass the time.
The past month has been ridiculously hard.
On September 19th I had Mingus neutered. I did this for a few reasons. He had started humping quite a bit. I introduced him to some new rats and he went crazy with humping them. They did not appreciate this. I had heard and read that rats are happiest in groups, and I knew he would stop humping and be less aggressive if he was neutered. He also had started to mark territory. He was constantly peeing little bits all over Ryan and I. I had also read about how neuting a rat can make their lifespan longer and prevent them from getting tumors, which they are prone to.
I went to www.afrma.com and looked at the list of preferred vets. I found one that I thought was good (Dr. Baker.) Mingus went to him for check ups beforehand, and then was neutered.
When I brought him home, all seemed fine. After a few days he chewed out his stitches and I had to take him to the emergency vet near my apartment. They replaced the stitches and recommended that I follow up with his normal veterinarian, which I did.
When I took him back in to Dr. Baker he said that everything looked good, except he had a little bit of swelling. He explained that this was common and to just watch it.
About 2 weeks go by and everything seems to be going pretty well. He still has a little swelling, but I am keeping an eye on it.
Then last sunday, the 7th, I was getting ready, and took Mingus out to say hello and play. His scrotum had swelled up to about the size of a golf ball. I took him to the emergency veterinarians again, and they had to put him under anesthesia and cut in to him to see what was going on. It turned out to be a nasty infection. They sent me home with antibiotics to give him, and told me to go to Dr Baker. I called, and Dr Baker was out of town. There was another Vet at the clinic who would check on Mingus, though. I thought that was better than nothing, so I made an appointment for tuesday morning. I noticed that Mingus was walking funny. On Monday night I picked him up and looked him over and found that his whole right leg had swelled up. He also was swelling again in the other area. This swelling had happened very quickly, in a couple hours time. I, once again took him to the emergency clinic.
The doctor there said Mingus was going to have to have another surgery to see what was going on inside of him. She recommended that I talk to the other veterinarian at his normal clinic to see if he felt comfortable doing explorative surgery on a rat. She recommended some other places in case he didnt.
The next morning when I was getting him ready I found that the swelling in his leg had doubled.
The veterinarian did not feel completely comfortable doing that type of surgery, as he didnt know much about rats. I drove about 45 minutes to another place that I had heard was good. There they looked over his charts and informed me that Dr. Baker had made some horrible mistakes with Mingus' neuter.
first of all, he used the wrong type of sutures. He used some kind that rats are very sensitive to and this kind is known to cause infection.
Second, he did not stitch up some tube that runs from the testes to his abdomin area. In rats you HAVE to stitch this up, because if there are any complications, an infection can travel up this tube and spread to other organs. Also they run the risk of hemmorage without this closed off.
Now, Mingus had an infection most likely due to those damn sutures, and the doctor had neglected to tie that tube up, which means that it easily could have spread to his other organs. This veterinarian said he needed immediate surgery, but their surgeon wouldnt be in until thursday. She couldnt guarantee that he would live that long.
So, we go to yet another place, Parkway Animal Hospital. This place was recommended to me by a lady who runs a rat rescue center.
Here they take xrays and determine that it probably isnt a hemmorage. Dr. Golombek does the surgery and finds that he had soft tissue swelling and a huge infection. she clears up as much of the infection as she can, and sends him home with about a million antibiotics.
The next few days are spent in and out of Parkway and the Emergency Clinic because Mingus wont stop moving around and opening up his stitches.
Yesterday I took him in for his follow up exam with Dr. Golombek. She explains that he is not healing properly, there still is a ton of infection, and most likely the reason he wont stop playing with his incisions are because they arent healing.
She tells me that she is afraid the infection has spread to his other organs. If this is the case, the best possible thing to do for him is to euthanize him. If I do not, it will just take over his whole body and slowly he will deteriorate. I would rather just end it now if that is the case. He is still in high spirits, and he has been through so much already that I do not want to prolong the suffering.
If the infection has not spread, then maybe he has an immune system deficiency. If this is true, then we just need to use more and stronger antibiotics.
She suggests surgery, once again, to look in his abdominal cavity and see if the infection has spread. She is going to call me as soon as she sees what is going on.
I dropped him off early this morning.
The surgery was scheduled for 2:30/3:00 today. It is 3:15.
I am waiting to hear from her.
I spent last night and this morning playing with him. I let him run around a little. He was so happy. he gave me kisses, he groomed my hand. Ryan came over to see him last night, and Mingus was so excited to see him. He kept crawling all over him and kissing him.
I hate everything that he has had to go through. I keep thinking that if only I hadnt had him neutered, he would be fine. I was doing what I was told was best for him though. Everything I have done in this situation has been to help him.
I never thought we would grow as attached as we have. I love him so much, and he is so incredibly affectionate towards me. He is the cutest thing ever. and I love him so much.
I want them to call me. I want him to be ok. I want this nightmare to be over.
I would do anything
damnit, just call me and tell me he is fine
PLEASE
Mingus is in surgery, or going in to surgery as I type this. This surgery today will determine whether or not he needs to be euthanized.
I am typing this all out to pass the time.
The past month has been ridiculously hard.
On September 19th I had Mingus neutered. I did this for a few reasons. He had started humping quite a bit. I introduced him to some new rats and he went crazy with humping them. They did not appreciate this. I had heard and read that rats are happiest in groups, and I knew he would stop humping and be less aggressive if he was neutered. He also had started to mark territory. He was constantly peeing little bits all over Ryan and I. I had also read about how neuting a rat can make their lifespan longer and prevent them from getting tumors, which they are prone to.
I went to www.afrma.com and looked at the list of preferred vets. I found one that I thought was good (Dr. Baker.) Mingus went to him for check ups beforehand, and then was neutered.
When I brought him home, all seemed fine. After a few days he chewed out his stitches and I had to take him to the emergency vet near my apartment. They replaced the stitches and recommended that I follow up with his normal veterinarian, which I did.
When I took him back in to Dr. Baker he said that everything looked good, except he had a little bit of swelling. He explained that this was common and to just watch it.
About 2 weeks go by and everything seems to be going pretty well. He still has a little swelling, but I am keeping an eye on it.
Then last sunday, the 7th, I was getting ready, and took Mingus out to say hello and play. His scrotum had swelled up to about the size of a golf ball. I took him to the emergency veterinarians again, and they had to put him under anesthesia and cut in to him to see what was going on. It turned out to be a nasty infection. They sent me home with antibiotics to give him, and told me to go to Dr Baker. I called, and Dr Baker was out of town. There was another Vet at the clinic who would check on Mingus, though. I thought that was better than nothing, so I made an appointment for tuesday morning. I noticed that Mingus was walking funny. On Monday night I picked him up and looked him over and found that his whole right leg had swelled up. He also was swelling again in the other area. This swelling had happened very quickly, in a couple hours time. I, once again took him to the emergency clinic.
The doctor there said Mingus was going to have to have another surgery to see what was going on inside of him. She recommended that I talk to the other veterinarian at his normal clinic to see if he felt comfortable doing explorative surgery on a rat. She recommended some other places in case he didnt.
The next morning when I was getting him ready I found that the swelling in his leg had doubled.
The veterinarian did not feel completely comfortable doing that type of surgery, as he didnt know much about rats. I drove about 45 minutes to another place that I had heard was good. There they looked over his charts and informed me that Dr. Baker had made some horrible mistakes with Mingus' neuter.
first of all, he used the wrong type of sutures. He used some kind that rats are very sensitive to and this kind is known to cause infection.
Second, he did not stitch up some tube that runs from the testes to his abdomin area. In rats you HAVE to stitch this up, because if there are any complications, an infection can travel up this tube and spread to other organs. Also they run the risk of hemmorage without this closed off.
Now, Mingus had an infection most likely due to those damn sutures, and the doctor had neglected to tie that tube up, which means that it easily could have spread to his other organs. This veterinarian said he needed immediate surgery, but their surgeon wouldnt be in until thursday. She couldnt guarantee that he would live that long.
So, we go to yet another place, Parkway Animal Hospital. This place was recommended to me by a lady who runs a rat rescue center.
Here they take xrays and determine that it probably isnt a hemmorage. Dr. Golombek does the surgery and finds that he had soft tissue swelling and a huge infection. she clears up as much of the infection as she can, and sends him home with about a million antibiotics.
The next few days are spent in and out of Parkway and the Emergency Clinic because Mingus wont stop moving around and opening up his stitches.
Yesterday I took him in for his follow up exam with Dr. Golombek. She explains that he is not healing properly, there still is a ton of infection, and most likely the reason he wont stop playing with his incisions are because they arent healing.
She tells me that she is afraid the infection has spread to his other organs. If this is the case, the best possible thing to do for him is to euthanize him. If I do not, it will just take over his whole body and slowly he will deteriorate. I would rather just end it now if that is the case. He is still in high spirits, and he has been through so much already that I do not want to prolong the suffering.
If the infection has not spread, then maybe he has an immune system deficiency. If this is true, then we just need to use more and stronger antibiotics.
She suggests surgery, once again, to look in his abdominal cavity and see if the infection has spread. She is going to call me as soon as she sees what is going on.
I dropped him off early this morning.
The surgery was scheduled for 2:30/3:00 today. It is 3:15.
I am waiting to hear from her.
I spent last night and this morning playing with him. I let him run around a little. He was so happy. he gave me kisses, he groomed my hand. Ryan came over to see him last night, and Mingus was so excited to see him. He kept crawling all over him and kissing him.
I hate everything that he has had to go through. I keep thinking that if only I hadnt had him neutered, he would be fine. I was doing what I was told was best for him though. Everything I have done in this situation has been to help him.
I never thought we would grow as attached as we have. I love him so much, and he is so incredibly affectionate towards me. He is the cutest thing ever. and I love him so much.
I want them to call me. I want him to be ok. I want this nightmare to be over.
I would do anything
damnit, just call me and tell me he is fine
PLEASE