Silly Fear?

Some of you have read about the demise of a recent rat. Now I'm having a bit of a silly paranoia. I work with my hands all day, heavy lifting as well. So there are many times when I'll have scratches or bruising I don't even remember getting.

But there's this small weird discoloration on my hand. That reminds me in a spooky way of the rat's illness. Quite different obviously, her paws and feet were so red and swollen she was unable to stand or hold food at the end. But it was never 100% established what was wrong. Just a vague full infection of some type.

It might just be I pinched my hand and it's bruising a weird color...but I tell you, any sign of spreading or pain and I'll be to the doc or ER instantly. Any idea what was wrong with the rat based on those symptoms?

i haven't a clue what the rat had and i am sorry to read of her death, i would say that if it is worrying you and playing on your mind, go and see the Dr to get anything horrible ruled out

Not a silly fear at all Agree with Griff,best to have it looked at.Maybe best to wear gloves when handling the poorlies in future,just to be on the safe side.Hope you're ok xx

Best get it checked out by a Doc. Rats are frequent carriers of Weil's Disease one of the symptoms of which is yellowing of the skin and the whites of the eyers. Years ago it was called Rat Catcher's Yellows because of the high incidence of people in that occupation. If confirmed, it is quite easily treated, the only time that problems occur is when in it's early stages it gets mistaken for jaundice and the treatment for this actually makes Weil's worse. Not scaremongering at all, but feel sure that you would want an honest opinion and as with all things it is far better safe than sorry. The gloves when handling poorlies is an excellent suggestion from Lacey and I would strongly advise this course of action for the future. Hope it's nothing at all to worry about, but a Doc would doubtless be able to put your mind at ease.

Fancy Rats don't carry the diseases their wild relatives do. I was in hospital with an unexplained chest infection which they couldn't find the source for. I had rats at the time and after much prodding by friends I did tell the consultant I had rats and could that be anything to do with it.

His answer was"Only if you went down the sewers and caught them"

Having said that I agree if you are worried go to ER or doctor. No harm in wearing gloves either.

Hope it's nothing to worry about

Most likely unrelated, but I agree with your initial response. If it gets any worse in anyway then best to get it looked at.
My thoughts for the rat was that if he or she was struggling to move the chances are that the poor thing was sat in it's own urine and caused irritation to the paws. Of course it could be something different but I thought the poor rat had more issues than the soreness to it's feet.

Hope your rash/bruise turns out to be nothing and heals up nicely.

Re Post #5, "Fancy rats don't carry the diseases their wild relatives do!"
That is about as daft as saying that because a dog is a pet, it can't carry rabies.
Granted the incidence of disease in well kept and safely housed fancy rats will be many times lower than with Rattus Norwegicus in it's wild state. To dismiss it out of hand would be folly as there is no way of knowing to what this poor creature was exposed prior to the original poster coming into contact with it. It being clearly stated that it's history was, basically, unknown.
Doubtless cava14una posted this as someone who has a fondness for rats and doesn't want them to be maligned or given a "bad press". Although they are probably amusing and engaging pets and are clearly intelligent companion animals. I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss the possibilty of some cross-contamination and would incline myself to visiting the Doctor's ASAP.

I'm thinking I'm off from both jobs tomorrow. Something to get looked at. The rat's condition was weird. A week or so of staggering and bleary eyed. Then his paws and feet took on a bloody color. No broken skin but bright very bright red with orangey discoloration as well, his mouth, his gonads, all bright red.
The mark on my hand is oddly shaped, maybe dime sized but orangey red. No open skin just bizarre color. If I pinched it or bruised it...wouldn't be this color. Unless it completely evaporates magically, tomorrow is Dr time.

Sounds like it might be an idea to get it checked out then, hope the doctor listens to your concerns and can help identify the problem.

Weird, and I can understand your concerns but I have no explanation.
I would see the doctor to be honest, just to get the all clear.