Possible tumor? Advice needed please

[khalirats]

Hi everyone, posting here for the first time about my 2 year old boy Thor, i noticed a lump on him about a week before christmas, it was the size of a small pea at the time, its been slowly growing but had no problems with it until now.

A couple of days ago i noticed a small scab on the lump, and its now looking quite angry and sore, i think he might have been licking it a bit too much, it does still have some hair on but it seems to have thinned out recently. In the pictures below i have applied some vitamin E oil to it so the hair is quite parted.

And a close up..

Just looking for some advice on if it is a tumour or something else, and what i can do to help him. Will also be taking him to the vets next week if needed.

Thanks in advance :cuddle:

 

[hopefloats]

It kinda looks like an abscess to me. I havent seen a small tumor do that. Have you tried to put a warm saline compress on it? It generally helps abscess come to a head so they can be flushed.

How long has it been there? A round of antibiotics maybe helpful it looks a little angry.

 

[khalirats]

He's had it a few months now, its quite hard and moves quite freely under the skin which is why my first thought was tumor.

I will try a warm saline compress and see if it makes any difference, thankyou!

 

[mamarat]

Fingers crossed it's only an abscess.

 

[Aida]

Good luck, and keep us updated! :3

 

[jorats]

It looks similar to what a few of my boys have had. It's pretty much a cyst. One did open up and some gunk came out but it remained slightly lumpy. It has never bothered my guys. But I would treat it as an abscess and see if you can drain it eventually.

 

[khalirats]

Ive put the warm compress on it a few times, the scab seems to be going a little darker now, hopefully it will open.

I was wondering, will the compresses be enough to flush it after it opens, or should i bathe him?

 

[lilspaz68]

Once it opens up and the nasty pus/bacteria comes out, you should flush the cavity with a saline solution or diluted betadine. Keep doing this until its healing up to the surface. No healing ointments as this encourages healing over top of any trapped bacteria, meaning the abscess comes back. No bathing once its open as well, since that just swills the bacteria back inside the cavity.

I really hope its an abscess or cyst

 

[khalirats]

Okay great, thankyou!

I hope so too, just want the horrible thing gone from my poor boy :heart:

 

[TheRatQueen]

I know this has nothing to do with your post...but I just wanted to know it makes me happy that you had some lovies named Pan and Iorek. <3 Amazing Characters.

 

[khalirats]

I know this has nothing to do with your post...but I just wanted to know it makes me happy that you had some lovies named Pan and Iorek. <3 Amazing Characters.

Indeed! The names really suited them too, especially Iorek who was a grey and white dumbo.. he was quite similar to a bear!



So a bit of an update on Thor, took him to the vet today since bathing the lump didnt seem to be doing anything, and its definately a tumor :sad3:

 

[TheRatQueen]

That's fantastic! Iorek was my alltime fav. character!

And sorry about the update

 

[khalirats]

Thanks, sorry for the late reply but still sort of getting used to it, i dont want to put him through an operation because he's an old boy and i dont think he would get through it. Theres another smaller tumor appeared on his back now too and the one i posted about has already gotten a bit larger. I just feel like bursting into tears when i see it.

He's so happy and bouncy still, i just hope it doesnt get really bad really fast.

 

[RatHeaven]

Have you tried to soak it and lossin up the scab a little? After i lossing Harrisons scab i found out it was a abcess since once the scab came off it managed to drain i kept it clean and it healed fast its one way you can find out if its a abcess or not also when the scab lossin alittle i pushed just a bit and it came out i hope its just an abcess

 

[khalirats]

I spent a few days soaking it before i took him to the vet, but when i took him to get checked out the vet poked a needle into it and it's a solid mass, no fluid at all, so unfortunately it does seem to be a tumor

 

[jorats]

Hopefully it's one of those that don't grow fast. I've seen rats live an extra 7 to 9 months with tumours.

 

[Joanne]

One of my ratties Jazzy had tumours. She had surgery successfully twice when she was over two. If your boy is healthy, I would consider the surgery. If he's not that healthy and seeming old, I would probably not put him through it. Good luck!

 

[khalirats]

I hope its a slow growing one too, it doesnt seem to have gotten a lot bigger since taking him to the vet, and he's not bothered by it so far luckily.

Yeah he's getting old now, almost 2 years, and he's a bit of a chubby boy and VERY lazy so i wont be putting him through surgery. There also arent any specialised vets around here which sucks.

 

[khalirats]

A bit of an update on Thor here, the lump is more than double the size it was in the picture i posted now, as its grown the scab seems to have grown with it, looks absolutely terrible. He's still been eating fine and running to the cage door when i go to it, and is currently curled up on my bed asleep.

When i got him out of the cage a little while ago i noticed he's either knocked or chewed off a good portion of the scab, and the skin underneath is very uneven and gross looking, the lump is actually a bit squashy now when i lightly squeeze and not rock solid like i was expecting.

Im tempted to take him back to the vet for more advice, she was adamant it was a tumor before but i cant find any other tumor on the internet that looks like it.

Any thoughts at all? Im really worried and stressing out about what to do

 

[EDK]

Sorry I have no experience with tumors, poor little guy, I hope someone can shead some light on the issue with you