URGENT rats mouth is swollen

[lv4dogs]

My oldest rat, Togette, i have had her for a little over a year and a half & she was full grown when i get her so i am assuming she is at least almost 2 years old, anyways Sunday evening her bottom jaw, chin area became quite swollen (almost like a tumor lump) as well as her tounge which is also purple, I checked for obstructions, could barely see in there but none that i detected, so i thought possibly an allergic reaction so i gave her some childrens benadryl. Well no imporvement since so off to the vet we went yeaterday. The vet could not tell either if there was an obstruction or not. due to the swollen tounge & tiny mouth. The vet took a syringe to the lump on the bottom of her chin but hardly anything at all came out. She did take a biopsy but i will not know the results til early next week. The vet also possibly thought an allergic reaction despite the fact ive been giving her benadryl for the past few days, so she injected some steriods & antihistamines. No improvement at all. She is also drooling like mad that produces an orangish stain to her fur & it smells almost acidy, the vet & i both think it is NOT blood. She litterally soaks herself with drool a few times a day. Her teeth are fine.
She seems to be able to breathe fine & she can still eat & drink, although ive been giving her mushy foods to make it easier on her. She still is the first one to the door when i go near the cage so she still has plenty of spunk left. The vet & I are both really really really surprised that she seems to be NOT suffering.
I have been noticing the past couple months that she is getting older, she is a touch skinnier than she always was and her hair is just a touch courser than it used to be but that is fairly common with old age. I have also noticed the other rats seem to be "caring" for her more than normal (grooming, coudling). She has not improved one bit.

Anyone have any ideas as to what this may be, what i could try to help her. The vet mentioned euthanasia even though she seems not to suffer from this the vet thinks she is (so do i i mean this is terrible, her tounge is so swollen she cant shut her mouth). But because Togette seems to act normal other than that I decided to take her back home & wait a couple days see if i can find anything out.

[wolfsoul]

I have no idea what to say! I really hope she gets better! This sounds serious. My vet told me that it is always a bad sign if a rat drools. Does your vet know alot about rats? Possibly you could get some more opinions. Try PMing luckies4me. She is a vet tech and has/knows alot about rats.

[wolfsoul]

So, updates???

I posted your dilemna on another board, and these are the replies I got:

If she's able to eat/drink, it probably isn't a foreign body. Sounds suspiciously like a mass-abscess or tumor. If it were an abscess on the outside of the jaw, I would think the biopsy would have released pus. Abscess could be on the inside of the jaw. I don't know how much help an xray would be, as a rats head is pretty small-might not reveal enough detail--but they could try that too.

my cat had that happen once. It was follicular infection. It was very large swelling that looked like a tumor. I don't know if this happens in rats. We used peroxide and neosporin to fix it up. Has to squeeze hard to get all the puss and infection out. This may or may not help.

[lv4dogs]

I thank you for your help & effort but sadley to say sun morning Togette passed away, she did not seem to be suffering much sat. night & I woke up sun. am to find her peacfully resting. I am hoping she passed gently in her sleep & that she was not too "macho" to hide any suffering symptoms as it was amazing but she seemed not to sufffer during her last few days with me. I rescued her from death at a local shelter a year & a half ago so i know the life i gave her was the best she could ever get for her last part of life & i tried to let her live it to the fullest! We are awaiting a thaw this spring so she can be burried w/ the rest.
I would like to have an autopsy done as this was very puzzling to a few different vets & I but i just can not afford it now. I will just hope that if there is a next time i will for sure get it done to help others out in a case like this.

[wolfsoul]

I'm sorry to hear about Togette.