growth on stomach

[raticus]

awhile back I got 2 new rats, pepper and felix, who are doing very well except for one of them, pepper has recently got a growth on his stomach.

it showed up randomly one day and since then hasn't really grown, and if it has only a little bit. however how it looks is changing. here are photos from the past couple of days.

I think from the last photo you can kind of tell the main changes, the red spot kind of feels like dried blood but I never saw him bleed and haven't seen any blood. anyway I'm just curious about what this could be and what should be done. the vets here aren't very good with rats and not very cheap either. any help is appreciated.

 

[Petunia]

I am not familiar with hairless rats but that looks like it *could* be an abscess.

they often start as just lumps and then can get a dark spot, that may or may not open up on it's own, and may get a scab...
I had one rat who has a deep abscess that never opened up but was treated successfully with an oral antibiotic.
Normally abscesses are flushed out if you are able to get them to open up and drain.

does it bother him if you touch it?

you could try putting warm compresses on it- if it's an abscess you can often get it to come to a "head" and have it open up so you can flush out the pus inside

check out the Rat Guide
http://ratguide.com/health/integumentary_skin/abscess.php

there's a few case histories of rats with abscesses, like these ones:
http://ratguide.com/health/figures/abscess_figure_1b.php
http://ratguide.com/health/figures/abscess_figure_1c.php
http://ratguide.com/health/figures/abscess_figure_5d.php

more info &/or photos here:
http://www.ratfanclub.org/abscess.html

http://rathelp.org/raisinrats/medical/abscesses.html

https://pethelpful.com/rodents/Common-Furless-Rat-Health-Problems

 

[lilspaz68]

This is a preputial gland abscess. Normally theybresolve well once they open up and you can flush them with isotonic saline until it heals

 

[dspch911]

That most definately is an abscess! My nakies get them all the time - they have put me through abscess hell with those. That one doesn't look too bad, but you need to get to open. Get all that green smelly goo out!

 

[dspch911]

This is a necrotic one - my nakies would look like this within 24-36 hours which then required vet debriding and antibiotics. I've had too many of these to count. Nakies always seem to have them. One of my guy's the gland popped out and had to be removed.

 

[lilspaz68]

I took care of mine at home (most abscesses can be cared for at home) Once it opened up he was put on antibiotics and flushed twice a day with isotonic saline i made myself

Mar 16th

Mar 18th

Mar 19th

Mar 20

Mar 21, almost fully healed, I stopped taking pics as it was clean and healing up to the surface.

 

[raticus]

thank you for the help! it opened up today but how do I make the mixture to flush it with?

 

[Petunia]

thank you for the help! it opened up today but how do I make the mixture to flush it with?

http://www.ehow.com/how_8144429_make-isotonic-saline-solution.html

 

[dspch911]

Unfortunity my boy's rarely clear up on their own. Although the last one I was able to take care of myself.

 

[jorats]

If you can get him to a vet, proper meds might make it heal much faster.

 

[raticus]

alright, I'll contact the vet. thank you

 

[raticus]

okay question, it looks like his brother is getting something similar except it's more on his "shoulder blade" (not sure what part of him it's actually called" and is more lumpy like it could by multiple. any thoughts?

 

[Petunia]

okay question, it looks like his brother is getting something similar except it's more on his "shoulder blade" (not sure what part of him it's actually called" and is more lumpy like it could by multiple. any thoughts?

are the lumps very small? have you noticed his scratching a lot?
could they possibly be little scabs? the shoulders are a common place for rats to get scabs from the itch of mites, and they will scratch a lot and get clusters of scabs esp on the shoulders but also sometimes on their backs etc

 

[raticus]

are the lumps very small? have you noticed his scratching a lot?
could they possibly be little scabs? the shoulders are a common place for rats to get scabs from the itch of mites, and they will scratch a lot and get clusters of scabs esp on the shoulders but also sometimes on their backs etc

no they are inside the skin, one of them already has the darker color on it like his brothers did before, but there's probably like 4-5 small ones on the same place

 

[Petunia]

oh my. he's a hairless rat too?

hopefully someone with more experience will be along soon, I have no clue what that might be, sorry

 

[lilspaz68]

It's possible these are bite wound abscesses? Do they tussle?

 

[raticus]

It's possible these are bite wound abscesses? Do they tussle?

no they aren't from a bite, maybe a scratch but I'm not sure about that either. but all my boys get along very well so I doubt it, I could only think about some of them having sharper nails.

 

[lilspaz68]

Scratches rarely cause abscesses, just deep puncture wounds where bacteria is forced deep into the tissue and then the surface heals over.

 

[jorats]

Are they both hairless?