Cyst

[melissa0125]

I went away for two nights and when i came home, Little Dipper has a huge cyst on her back right leg. Its probably about the size of a toonie.... I have no idea what to do. Is there anything i can do myself to help her?
Its not at all hard. It feels kinda squishy... Im really worried. I will get a picture tomorrow.

 

[xxchelle]

Is it a cyst or an abscess?

Do a warm compress and try to bring it to a head. If it's an abscess you'll be able to pop it and squish all the gunk out of it (lovely!). Then you can flush it and keep it clean and it *should* heal fine though it might require a vet visit for antibiotics.

I've heard cysts are much different from abscesses and usually need to be removed surgically. I've never personally dealt with a cyst. Seen plenty of abscesses though!

 

[melissa0125]

Here are pictures. Sorry theyre not the greatest, Little Dipper is too hyper to stand still for pictures.

 

[jorats]

Oh dear, that's a mammary tumour. If you can, I'd get that removed asap.

 

[melissa0125]

y did it show up so quickly. What will happen if i cant get it removed right away. I have no way to get to moncton to bring her to the vet. (its about an hr drive away. and i dont have a car)

 

[melissa0125]

She doesnt seem to be in any pain at all. She lets me touch it. and she still is eating and drinking like normal

 

[jorats]

A typical benign mammary tumours grow quite fast but then they might slow down. In about a month or so, it might double in size. Eventually it will get so big, it will suck the life right out of her. I really do hate mammary tumours.

 

[melissa0125]

Oh Do you know how much it normally costs to get them removed?

 

[jorats]

In my neck of the woods, it's quite expensive, like $300.

 

[myac]

We had a little girl with two mammary tumors just like the one your baby has. They also seemed to come from nowhere (nothing one day, Bam!, tumor next day). Our baby's tumors grew very rapidly for about 2 weeks then plateaued. One even shrank a little. They started to grow again shortly before her surgery.
It cost us about $270 to have them removed at Carnegy Animal Hospital in Lacewood, NS. I find that most vets in the HRM area have similar fees for similar procedures.
She picked a little at her stitches but healed very well in about 3 weeks. She was back to her old self in no time and had a good life til recently a stroke took her from us. :sad3: I miss her like crazy, but I'm so glad we did the surgery. If you can do it, I definitely recommend it. Eventually (if you're lucky) the tumor will become so big the rat won't be able to get around. If you're not so lucky, like Jo said, it'll suck the life right out of her.
Good luck!