rhapsody
Senior Member
Back in January, Alice developed a mammary tumor by the base of her tail. We got it successfully removed, but we opted not to spay her at the same time - it would have added an additional $205 to the $315 tumor removal, and I had to spread the money out since I had a very sick hamster at the same time.
A couple of weeks ago, I noticed a small lump in the same spot. I've been giving her meds in the small chance that it was just an abscess, but now I'm certain that the tumor has grown back.
Alice was first bought from a petstore back in August 2009, so she's definitely over two years old now. At the time, she was bought with her display cagemate Millie - whether or not they were actually related, I don't know, but I just had to put Millie to sleep on Monday due to an advanced pituitary tumor case (she had a bunch of other health problems too). Both had been neglected by their first owner for a year, and their second owner didn't know very much about rat care, so after adopting them in December 2010, I am actually a bit surprised that they managed to live this long.
What do I do now besides beat myself up for not spaying her back when she had the surgery? Drat it all, she was doing so well that I didn't prioritize spaying her since then thanks to all the other urgent rodent ailments that have been popping up. To make things just peachy, the original tumor was very tricky to remove thanks to its location, and the vet had warned me in advance that he might have to stop mid-surgery. Now that Alice is much older, the surgery risks have just risen a good deal.
A couple of weeks ago, I noticed a small lump in the same spot. I've been giving her meds in the small chance that it was just an abscess, but now I'm certain that the tumor has grown back.
Alice was first bought from a petstore back in August 2009, so she's definitely over two years old now. At the time, she was bought with her display cagemate Millie - whether or not they were actually related, I don't know, but I just had to put Millie to sleep on Monday due to an advanced pituitary tumor case (she had a bunch of other health problems too). Both had been neglected by their first owner for a year, and their second owner didn't know very much about rat care, so after adopting them in December 2010, I am actually a bit surprised that they managed to live this long.
What do I do now besides beat myself up for not spaying her back when she had the surgery? Drat it all, she was doing so well that I didn't prioritize spaying her since then thanks to all the other urgent rodent ailments that have been popping up. To make things just peachy, the original tumor was very tricky to remove thanks to its location, and the vet had warned me in advance that he might have to stop mid-surgery. Now that Alice is much older, the surgery risks have just risen a good deal.
