Lump on face....what do you think?

[Bundyrats]

Hey,

Last Sunday night I suddenly noticed this big lump on Meesha's jaw. I took her to the vet on Monday night and we think it could be 1) an impaction, 2) a tooth problem or 3) a bite. She's on Clavulox twice a day 0.1ml but it hasn't made a difference. In fact the lump has become hard. It's not getting bigger and she seems fine. Eating, happy etc. As the Clav is not making any difference and it's not going away, I am going to take her in on Monday to have her put under so the vet can have a look and see what it might be....any thoughts or any experiences with this...?

 

[jorats]

Sometimes a week is not long enough for meds to be effective on a facial abscess but I'd do the same as getting her under to check it out surgically, the vet might be able to "clean" it out or debulk it in some way.

 

[lilspaz68]

How fast did it show up? If it was really fast then my guess is an abscess...and it needs to be opened up. As to what caused it, that's a different story. It seems to be in a funny place for the molars I think? (pre-coffee).

 

[MumsyRat]

I agree with Shelagh. A lump that comes in that fast has got to be an abscess - my experience says meds won't touch it. It needs draining a.s.a.p.

 

[Joanne]

My first reaction was abscessed tooth. Hope the exploratory surgery goes well.

 

[Bundyrats]

Thanks all. Yes, it came up really quickly and at first I thought it was my imagination but when I gave Meesha a kiss on her head when she got this thing, I thought I could smell something.....well stinky. Usually all the girls smell delicious but Meesh had this stinky thing going on so I've been thinking it is the infected lump.
I will definately take her in to get it drained.
Thanks.

 

[lilspaz68]

You could try hot damp compresses to see if you can encourage it to burst at home. I would advise pain meds though, metacam if you have it or get infant/pediatric liquid advil for the discomfort and swelling.

 

[Bundyrats]

Oh thanks lilspaz. I was just about to start a new topic and ask about pain relief. I went to the vet on Friday for my other girl Rosie. Her back foot was out of action and the paw was curled tight. The vet thought she had done her achilles tendon but wouldn't give me any pain relief for her. He thought he might have to put her under too to check it out but she's fine now - woke up the next morning running around like nothing happened so I think it was just a strain. Anyway, I want to have something on hand at all times for the rats. Do you know what the active ingredients are in Metacam and Advil. I don't know if they have different names here but I will go and get something today. What would the dosage be?

 

[lilspaz68]

Metacam is prescription but you can pick up Advil (ibuprofen) from the drug store...make sure it is pediatric drops or infant liquid. The best one is the dye-free, grape-flavoured one

 

[Bundyrats]

Ok, so I've just been to the chemist and I bought Nurofen for children. The active ingrediant is 100mg Ibuprofen per 5ml.
The lowest dosage for kids on the back says 3ml for 6kg, so I've worked out that that's 0.25ml for 500grams (or 0.5ml per kilo) so I will go with those dosages.

 

[jorats]

One thing to be aware, one of my mom's rats had a malignancy grow within 20 minutes. So don't discount a tumour entirely.

 

[KTyne]

I just recently dealt with my 7 month old rat Bijoux having a lump on the TOP of her head. At first my vet and I thought it was an abscess since it had popped up in less than 48 hours but when he went to drain the apparent abscess it had a tumor-like lump in it which I'm 98% sure WAS a tumor.
Sooo like Jo said I wouldn't discount a tumor but the fact you said you smelled something funky/different about it makes me think abscess.
Good luck at the vet though, and I'm hoping it's an abscess since it's the lesser of two evils!

 

[Joanne]

Dosage in the Rat Guide: ( http://ratguide.com/meds/nsaids/ibuprofen.php )

10 -30 mg/kg every 4 hours.

Your rat is 500 g, so the dosing would be 5 mg every 4 hours (lowest dose) up to 15 mg every 4 hours (highest dose).

Your drug is 100 mg per 5 ml --> 10 mg is 0.5 ml.

Dosing range: 5 mg is 0.25 ml, up to 15 mg which is 0.75ml.

The low end of the spectrum is for pain control. If going for an anti-inflammatory effect, you need to be at the higher end of the spectrum.

 

[Bundyrats]

Oh gosh....I really hope it's just an abscess. KTyne I was reading your thread about Bijoux yesterday so I'll have to wait and see.

Thanks for the dosage rates Joanne...I should have said but Meesha is actually 330grams, I was breaking it down in easier quantities and was going to go from there. Thanks for the link too and thanks for the info about pain control vs anti inflammatory. I wish I had known this on Thursday when Rosie hurt her little foot and the vet wouldn't give me anything for her. Grrrr.

Will let you know what happens with Meesh.

 

[lilspaz68]

I used 10-30 mg/kg , with her weighing 330 grams and using the middle recommended dosage of 20 mg/kg I am getting a dose of .33 cc's every 4-6 hours.

I have an excel sheet I created to do all the math work for me now I just need to punch in the right numbers to get the right result

 

[KTyne]

I'm sure it'll just be an abscess. :') Since it smells funky and is near where her teeth are (opposed to Bijoux's which was on top of her head by her ear). Bijoux's lump didn't smell at all, she smelled normal.

 

[Bundyrats]

I have her booked in for Wednesday. It's the earliest the vet can operate. For now though, she's happy and eating well. It doesn't seem to be bothering her much though she is on Clavulox twice a day so that might be keeping things at bay.

 

[jorats]

Keeping my fingers crossed for an easy procedure.

 

[mamarat]

Good luck to your sweetie.

 

[Bundyrats]

Yay, I have Meesha back home and she is fine for now. The vet seems to think it was a seroma. He drained the fluid and the lump is a lot smaller and she is fine. If it comes back, he will drain it again (she won't need to go under anesthetic) and then if it comes back again, we'll drain it and send a sample to pathology to check it out. The cells he looked at today were inflammatory cells and he's not too familiar with rat inflammatory cells. So.....I just hope that his diagnosis at this stage is correct and it's not something more serious.
Here are some pics,