Lump near penis?

[fenshae]

Splinter was stretching on the bars today and I noticed a funky lump on his underbelly so I pulled him out for a look. It's right above and slightly to the side of his penis and is maybe a little smaller than a marble. No wounds or broken anywhere near by so I don't think it's an abscess, and it seems pretty deep in the skin. It feels firm to the touch, I couldn't tell if it was mobile at all because he was reeeeallly not pleased with me poking around down there.

I noticed while I was at it that he's got some discharge from his penis as well. I'll have to try again to clean any plugs...getting him erect requires pressing where the lump is and that seemed to bother him a lot. He also feels a bit thinner than normal; not super skinny, but not as solid as he usually is, and he's getting kind of patchy now (he's a rex and his fur is veeeery soft now but you can see through it in places to his skin).

Any guesses?

(for reference, I got Splinter in November '09, and he was pretty big when I got him. So I'm guesstimating he's about 18 months+?)

 

[jorats]

Was he neutered, if so when? I'd still go with abscess regardless if there are any signs of wounds.

 

[fenshae]

Nope, he's intact.

 

[jorats]

When there are lumps in that area, I always treat as abscess and pray it is one, an easy one to care for. But if it grows fast and doesn't come to a head, then you start worrying for the worse.

 

[fenshae]

boy rats wouldn't get mammary tumors would they? on account of no nipples?

 

[victoria]

Male rats can get mammary tumours, although it's much rarer than in females. There are other types of tumours that can develop in that area too.

 

[Unepuce]

I am currently having the same issue you are describing with one of my neutered male. At first, we thought it was a tumour and were actually dicussing surgery, then my vet decided to try and drain it anyway and turned out it was an abcess. I didn't notice the discharge before she drained him, but she mentionned it was connected to his penis and I do see it when I flush it. I would definitely investigate the abcess theory...

 

[fenshae]

Looks like the abscess assesment was right. I managed to wrangle him down to investigate again and pressed down on the lump.... and was rewarded by a pretty substantial amount of foul-smelling pus instead, right from his penis shaft.. That may be the single most disgusting thing I've done with a rat yet, and I've done my share of first aid.

He was NOT happy with me and shredded up my hand pretty good. I'll have to get David to hold him next time.

I think I got most of it, but I'll have to try more tomorrow.

Any guesses what could cause this? Like I said I never found any broken skin and it's draining right through his shaft.

 

[jorats]

Hopefully it's not an internal infection... if so, he'll need to go on meds. Clavamox would be ideal, worked fantastic on my Gera.
But other than a scratch... not sure what else would do that.

 

[fenshae]

After a bit of searching, it appears what I have on my hands is a preputial gland abscess that is for whatever reason draining through his penis shaft rather than coming to a head and bursting. Poor dude.

 

[SQ]

I hope you are able to get him on clavamox, that it will help and that he is soon feeling better

 

[fenshae]

Splinter's looking waaay better. The swelling's gone down almost entirely, and no more oozing. Gonna keep an eye on it to see if the abscess decides to fill up again, but so far so good.

But now Stock's having penis problems, too. Two nights in row he's had paraphimosis I've had to deal with. What the heck?

 

[jorats]

Weird... Lube him up real good.

 

[fenshae]

yeah. It's really bizarre. The litter they're in right now is kind of dusty, so I'm wondering if somehow that's causing some kind of irritation, like particles getting in their bits? It's the same Yesterday's News I've always used, but there's a dusty gray residue. The cat's paws are gray from it and I noticed some of the rats are a bit grimy-looking underneath. I bought a new bag of Yesterday's News to switch out and hopefully that helps. I can't think of any other reason why two rats would be having these problems simultaneously.

I had Splinter out on the couch with me last night. He's turning into more of a cuddlebug in his old age.