Mass on body

[Alyssabstan]

My dirty boy Roach has come up with a massive lump on his body...

Has anyone seen this before? It's right and up a bit from his penis and it doesn't seem to be painful, just ugly.

There is a small scab on the centre but that's it. It's squishy like a cyst. Could it be an abscess? I do work at a veterinary clinic but we just don't see rats in so this is out of my knowledge.

Currently waiting on a rodent vet to reply with a date to take him in since my area is crazy booked.

 

[lilspaz68]

looks like your boy has a preputial gland abscess. You can start with sitz baths in the sink to help bring the pus to the surface. A few inches of warm/hot water in a sink where he can sit for a few minutes (wear long sleeves to prevent getting scratched and have a towel ready nearby even before going to get him. This can really move it along and once its open and draining, you can flush it with isotonic saline twice a day until its healing up near the surface. Very RARELY if you notice that its not staying flush with the body and growing up and out you may be dealing with a preputial gland tumour. I just wanted you to know about it prior just in case. These usually resolve really well with this treatment. No vet needed.

 

[Alyssabstan]

Thank you so much.
Me and my vet coworker placed it as a preputial gland abscess after browsing veterinary forums.

Thank you also for the treatment suggestions, my veterinary coworkers have been trying to help as best as they could but there were no answers other than a 500 dollar surgery (even myself as a vet tech things that's stupid expensive!!! For a 30 dollar rat!!!!). Antibiotics sounded like a nightmare too. Rats are difficult to treat when you haven't had to work with them for over 10 years lol

When you do sitz baths, are you just using water or are you adding anything to the water?

And have you had any luck with topical antibiotics for the outter section? I'm thinking if placing some flamazine on the slight wound formed on the outside he's got from rubbing it all over the blankets and bedding.

Thank you for your input, this is really helping me not cry every 4 minutes hahaha

 

[lilspaz68]

Just warm/hot water (their regular body temp is higher than ours) for the sitz bath. The saline will help flush into those nooks and crannies, help soften/liquify any cheesier or more solid stuff inside so it can be flushed out.

You shouldn't use topical ointments with abscesses as it encourages the surface to heal potentially trapping in bacteria underneath it. The abscess could recur if this happens. Abscesses need to heal from bottom to top, so nothing gets trapped inside and you can let it heal normally once its close to the surface of the skin.

 

[Alyssabstan]

You're right, I was more worried about making sure his skin doesn't end up infected but I should be dealing with the abscess first.

I've got the saline so that's no problemo. Thanks a bunch!!!