Thanks Sarah about the Propolis. I decided in the end not to use it as Phoebe appears to have cleaned off the dry blood herself and today the wound looks dry and healthy - at last! Knowing Phoebe she would like the taste of Propolis! She has her post op check tomorrow afternoon so hopefully the vet will give her the OK or she may need Baytril for a few more days. Molly is looking so unhappy on her own and I can't wait to get them playing together again :)

If there is moistness in the wound still the propolis would help but if it is dry and scabby theres probably no point,but as I said it won't do any harm and the taste will likely deter her from picking.It seems like one step forward and two back sometimes doesn't it?Tsk!Its worse than having kids!x

Thanks Sarah. I so wanted Connie to reach her 2nd birthday. She's the 2nd ratty I've had not to reach two :(

As for Phoebe, she's been up to her old tricks again! When I got her out of bed this morning the wound had quite a bit of blood on it. I think maybe it's beginning to itch. It's dry blood though but I now can't see any stitches. They may have been dissolvable, so hopefully this is why I can't see them and with the dried blood caked on top :-/ It doesn't look like she's opened it up though, which is one thing. Is it OK to put Propolis onto dried blood? I don't know much about it. At least she's taking the Baytril better but it seems she's gone from picking to nibbling now!

Aw,Hannah (((Hugs))) for Connie,she was such a character,no wonder you miss her.

I'm glad the Phoebe situation isn't too unbearable.As you've got the propolis(and I know how expensive it is!)it wouldn;t do the wound any harm to dab a bit on as its a great antiseptic.
Scritches to Pheeb's.

[quote=LoopyLupins]I am glad it went well - 2 rats being operated on in the space of a few weeks can't be good for your sanity! Scritches to them both.[/quote]

Thanks LoopyLupins. Yes, Phoebe's op. has come soon after having the tumour removed from Connie, but, sadly, Connie had to be PTS about 4 weeks ago (I have her thread in Rainbow Bridge). I still miss her so much. This Sunday would have been her 2nd birthday.

I'm tired but not feeling so stressed. Because this time Phoebe's wound is so small, the experience hasn't been quite so bad overall. She's been incredibly stressed in the hospital cage though and at times quite panicky, so as she already had her own cage separate to Molly (due to when Connie was here), I've now put her back in her own home and she has really settled down and, yes, even stopped picking! I only put her in the hospital cage because her own has three levels and a high hammock where she always sleeps and I didn't want her exerting herself too soon and when she gets buried in her hammock I can never see her.

I can see a few nibbled edges to the wound though and there's a tiny spot of dried green matter in the centre, but as it was an abscess I suppose this is to be expected and she has the Baytril. I'm now having to get it into her the mean way though. I was putting it into her water bottle but she wasn't drinking nearly enough, so now I'm using the syringe and she's hating it! Plus my arms and neck are now covered in scratches!

She has her post op. check-up on Monday, so hopefully the vet will tell me if she's getting enough antibiotic. At least the green matter is dry. Of course, Phoebe would decide to stop picking on the very day I managed to buy some Propolis!

How is Phoebe's wound today,Hannah? I hope she hasn't kept you up all night and you're managing to deal with the stress of it all!
Now Phoebe,heres a simple equation;
Less picking = Less time in hospital cage...comprende?! x

I am glad it went well - 2 rats being operated on in the space of a few weeks can't be good for your sanity! Scritches to them both.

Thanks for explaining what Propolis is. I can't believe I hadn't heard of it! I think I might need to get some tomorrow. It's gone 2AM and although I'm ready for bed, I'm not actually in bed yet thanks to Phoebe!! She slept solid the whole evening, then became wide awake at midnight and decided she definitely wanted out of the hospital cage; she was really stress bruxing, then started to have a good old pick at the wound! Fortunately she's quite a podgy girl and the wound is under her 'spare tyre', so to speak, but having to get her head around it isn't really stopping her, and although the wound is tiny she's already made it bleed! She doesn't like me stopping her and nothing will distract her at the moment, not even a yoggie! But it's been a long day and I do have to sleep, so I'm hoping she will soon!!!!

Phoebe frantically waves back to Chi! :) x x

Aw,thats great news about Phoebe!..She should be healed then before she even has a chance to play around with her stitches!Great news about the lipoma's as well as they are something that don't grow much at all.
Propolis is a foul tasting tar like liquid made by bee's from tree resin to protect the hive from infection.For humans its great for colds,athletes foot and wounds.
For rats a tiny smear mixed in something yummy can be given to boost the immune system and it can be applied onto the skin to act as an antiseptic,astringent and to boost healing in wounds ,scratches and skin irritations.At the moment I am using it mixed with the intrasite gel.I put a squirt of gel and a drop of propolis onto a sterile melolin square then smear it accross Chi's wound.
Chi waves to Phoebe from her hospital cage!x

Thanks Sarah! I got Phoebe home about 50 minutes ago and it's good news! The small hard lump wasn't a tumour after all. It was an abscess! When the first incision was made, it popped out! And the other two soft lumps are not tumours either but fatty tissue! So Phoebe only has about one or two stitches from what I can tell. She has just settled to sleep now but was very alert and sitting up eating some hard food when I brought her home and seems more interested in the bald patch on her bottom than a little further up where the stitches are, so I'm just hoping she remains a good girl this time!

I've not heard of Propolis. Is it some kind of herbal treatment that doesn't taste nice? I already have some IntraSite gel but hopefully it won't be needed :-/ And, of course, she now has a course of Baytril.

I hope it all goes well for her on Monday,will be thinking of her.As for the aftercare I think its more stressful for us than it is them!I've been amazed at how lively Chi has been,and she seems to be in no pain at all.I never would have had her down as a picker though and as you know she's been a nightmare!
Dabbing propolis liquid on did deter her a bit though.
Kisses to Phoebe xx