My pet rat, Luna, has black spots under her chin that have inflamed and are now bleeding. This is a new devolpment within the past three days. I have noticed black spots on my cats chin as well. Help!
2007-04-22 17:58:43 · 4 answers · asked by jentennisgal 2 in Pets ➔ Other - Pets
Scabs found around the head and chin of rats is usually due to too much protein in the diet. We call this a "protein itch". It's an accumulative affect which means that a high-protein diet has to be given to the rat for many months to a year before symptoms start to show up.
Alfalfa and corn are usually the culprits, but I need to know what you are feeding her to help you further.
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bclee/ratfood.html
http://firstrats.tripod.com/id23.htm
http://www.black-sanity.net/rats/homefoodcare.html
http://www.ratclub.org/ratcare_diet.htm
For an immediate comfort for the rat try the hydrogen peroxide approach, but the diet change will have to go into affect for a permanent solution.
Scabs on the cat's chin is usually feline acne
http://search.yahoo.com/search?search=feline+acne&ei=UTF-8&fr=ks-ans&ico-yahoo-search-value=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.yahoo.com%2Fsearch&ico-wikipedia-search-value=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FSpecial%3ASearch&p=feline+acne
Instructions in a Cat Fancy Magazine recommended dabbing hydrogen peroxyde on the chin wounds and this simple procedure should clear up the acne.
It's just a coincedence that both your rat and your cat have what appears to be the same malidy, but one is not related to the other.
spazrats
"my life has gone to the rats"
2007-04-25 20:23:39 · answer #1 · answered by spazrats 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yup, could be acne. This is a type of skin infection that needs treatment. Strange if your cat and your rat have it! I would say the rat at least needs to be seen by a vet, if they're bleeding that's got to be uncomfortable! Rats are prone to skin problems. You might want to get your cat looked at as well, or at least keep an eye on it to check that it doesn't develop into worse.
Chalice
2007-04-22 21:44:47 · answer #2 · answered by Chalice 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I'd take them to a veterinarian. You'll have to call around to find one that specializes in "pocket pets" for your rat.
2007-04-22 18:35:55 · answer #3 · answered by paintpony26 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
my cat had black scabs on his chin too. our vet said its feline acne :P weird, i know. but he gave us a cream to use, and he got better. that may be what ur cat has...
2007-04-22 18:05:08 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋