Growing lump on rat ... SURGERY TODAY!

[rhapsody]

The rattie: Alice, an 17-monthish intact female

The background info: When I brought home Alice in December, I noticed that she had a small marble-sized lump near the base of her tail. I took her to my vet (with whom I've had much success with hamster tumor removals), and well, he said it didn't act or feel like a typical tumor. He said that sometimes unspayed females will develop small cysts that generally go away on their own. Besides the lump, he declared her to be otherwise healthy and sent us home with the instruction to monitor the lump.

The current problem: The lump has grown a bit over the last month. I neglected to get a "before" picture, but this is what the lump looks like now:
[center:2rusahmf]

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Alice is not in any obvious discomfort, but the lump is starting to affect the way she walks, and she's dribbling urine a lot more than usual during playtime. I started to get a bit worried since the growth is so near her ... er, potty area, so I took her back to the vet this Tuesday. Again, the vet was reluctant to diagnose it as a tumor. The lump is very squishy, and he is able to feel completely around it - according to him means that the lump has developed completely outside the body cavity wall and isn't anchored to anything by blood vessels (like a tumor would be). So he prescribed Baytril to see if we can get that lump to shrink back down.

One thing I want to stress about my vet - despite being stellar with rodent surgeries, he doesn't like to push for them unless they are absolutely necessary. As long as the lump doesn't grow beyond its current size, he doesn't think that a surgery is needed.

Have any of you experienced a lump of this nature? If I don't see any improvement over the next couple of weeks, should I push for the lump removal anyway?

 

[jorats]

That's a typical benign mammary tumour. I've seen it a few times. And your sweetie is at the right age for it too. I'd strongly suggest removal and a spay. I'd try and convince your vet that this thing will keep growing until it literally sucks the life out of her.

 

[rhapsody]

Okie-dokie! I have a recheck appointment for Alice in a couple of weeks, and if no improvement has been made, I'll push for the surgery.

Speaking of which, if we do have the lump removed, is it safe to squeeze a spay at the same time too? And is it worth it to spay at her age? I hear so much conflicting info - most folks have been saying there's no health benefit past a certain age since the estrogen damage has already been done.

 

[jorats]

I get all my females spayed no matter the age so unless we are very lucky with our rescues, I believe it's beneficial.
In fact, my vet tells me that she might even refuse a tumour removal if her client doesn't agree to the spay at the same time. She says it's a waste of time, that the rat needs to be spayed as well or that rat will simply come back for more tumour removals.

People who claim there are no health benefits past a certain age... what study are they basing this on? How many rats are they using to compare the benefits? We've had over a hundred girls done. We've had a handful of recurrence and perhaps 3 or 4 where the rat went on to develop a mammary tumour and a couple of those were on 2 rats that were spayed before the age of 4 months. So really in my groups of rats which come from all over, not just my area, it is pretty much proven to be a benefit.

 

[SQ]

As Jorats said, tumour removal or it will kill her, and a spay to decrease the likelyhood of another tumour.
Vets usually do both at the same time, but it likely depends on the condition of the rattie, etc

Did your vet think it might be an abcess or be an abcessed tumour? That is the only reason I can think of why he would perscribe an antibiotic.

 

[rhapsody]

Did your vet think it might be an abcess or be an abcessed tumour? That is the only reason I can think of why he would perscribe an antibiotic.

From the feel of it, we both thought the lump was more like an inflamed cyst. I've had a hamster with a mammary tumor, and it was extremely hard and solid feeling - the vet removed it that afternoon. I've also had a hamster with an infected cyst, and that felt soft and squishy - a round of Baytril helped it shrink, but then it flared up again and was removed a month later. Like I mentioned before, my vet likes to use non-invasive treatment unless a surgery is absolutely necessary.

 

[rhapsody]

The earlier round of antibiotics did nothing to shrink down the lump, and in fact, its grown a bit in size. At this rate of growth, Alice would be in serious trouble if nothing is done. So surgery is finally scheduled for her this Friday - I tried for it last week, but the vet was out sick. The vet is guardedly confident that the surgery should go well, but he stressed that there is a bit of risk since the lump is so darn close to her urethra. Here's what the lump looks like now:

[center:5aymdgum]

[/center:5aymdgum]

 

[lilspaz68]

Yep that is definitely a tumour, we have all seen those way more than we would like.

As for a spay, she's only 18 months and even if a tumor does recur, it will slow the growth so much it probably won't affect her life span. :thumbup:

 

[rhapsody]

If the surgery is a success, do I:

A) put Alice back with everyone else
B) house her separately
C) house her separately with a mellow buddy

Alice is extremely playful and often instigates bouts of wrestling. Although its never serious, the silly girl gets flipped over a lot by Rufus, Jasper, and Sophie. I'm a little worried that sutures might get ... compromised if I put her back with everyone else.

I was thinking of popping her into a spare cage with Millie who is the mellowest rattie ever and has also been cagemates with Alice since they were bought together at a petstore over a year ago. Would this be the best option? I'd think having a calm snuggle buddy would help quicken the healing process. If I do go this route, how long before Alice can rejoin the rest of the gang?

 

[coreline]

my vet always recommends at least a week alone, to avoid sutures being ripped out (my vet does internal sutures, but the incision can get groomed open exposing the sutures), and infection from grooming, etc.

after that, it's really a matter of how fast she's healing, etc. i usually start intros 1 - 2 weeks after surgery depending on the rat. it's rare that they are alone for a long time after surgery (like with my Blue atm. she'd have been back in with her girls if she hadn't had so many following issues).

 

[Joanne]

I always put my ratties with at least one friend. I feel that the importance of having a happy rat with a positive attitude outweighs the risk of another rat grooming the stitches out. I want them to heal, and moping around being sad because they're lonely won't help. My girls generally remove most of the stitches on their own. I just monitor things and make sure the wound doesn't gape open.

 

[Dazzle87]

In my experience the only one to mess with the incision is the patient.

 

[MissGuardian]

I have been told to keep my operated rat alone for 10+ days without contact with the lther rats.. I don't like that much tho.. Mine get to be out under supervision as soon as they are up to it, and then I usually take it from there.. The last time(abcess surgery on a small abcess) mine was put together with the rest the second day.. He wanted to be left alone the first day.. I wouldn't have done that if I didn't know how the others would behave tho..

 

[jorats]

You'll be able to judge what your girl can handle after her surgery. A week seems too long for separation. So go day by day.

 

[coreline]

honestly, 1 + weeks is not ideal, but in my experience can be very necessary. my vet does a very solid closing (internal sutures with the outer layer of skin glued with surgical glue). I find the rats mess with it less, but it can backfire if you have a determined rat.

it really depends on your rat and their rat buddies. after a couple days, rats are well on their way to being healed. but you still have infections, etc to worry about. a lot of my rats just refuse to leave sutures alone. so I have to play it safe. but if your group won't bother them, then pushing intros is not too big of an issue. but I'd still check for signs of infection, etc.

I should clarify something too. it's 1 + weeks until they are back IN the cage with intros. I tend to start play dates and neutral intros a couple days after surgery unless healing is not going well.

 

[rhapsody]

Surgery is today, so wish us luck! Will be dropping Alice off at the vets in 15 minutes.

Thanks for all the post-op buddy rat info - I'll play it by ear depending on how Alice comes out of surgery.

 

[MissGuardian]

Good luck!

 

[Phyllis]

:cuddle: am saying a lil prayer for Alice, keep us posted please :getwell:

 

[mamarat]

Fingers crossed for your sweetie.

 

[SQ]

Hope everything goes well