Possible Tumor? Back from the vet what do you think?

[Kayla2]

I got Jazz in May of 2009 and if I was to guess she'd be about 18 months old. I just noticed around of her nipples closer to her front is a bit swollen and looks a little red. I've never encountered a tumor before. If that is what it is and it doesn't seem to bother her, what kind of harm will it be to her? How fast do they normally grow? I may be able to upload some pics if I can get a clear one.
Thanks for your input.

 

[lilspaz68]

Can you palpate it gently and see if there's any thicker tissue inside the skin?

 

[Kayla2]

It's not a hard lump or anything. but I do feel a small squishy bump. It doesn't seem to bother her when I touch it. Shes acting like her normal curious self.

 

[jorats]

It could be a number of thing but from her age and the location, it could very well be a benign mammary tumour. These things can grow slowly especially if the rat is spayed or quite fast. It can double it's size in a day.

 

[Kayla2]

With an experienced vet are they simple to remove?

 

[jorats]

Definitely. And the sooner the better. I'd get her spayed at the same time, that should stop or slow any other possible growth.

 

[lilspaz68]

With an experienced vet are they simple to remove?

Yes usually. the smaller the better as well, although if you are just feeling it, it may be a bit too small yet

 

[Kayla2]

Thanks for the quick replys. I'll have to check into it and call a nearby vet before I move in the next couple weeks.
Will a surgery be hard on her at her age?

 

[lilspaz68]

18 months and healthy? No it should be fairly easy on her.

 

[Kayla2]

She now has 3 that seem like they showed up overnight. I have a vet appointment tomorrow at 2:00 with a vet who has some experience with rats but not much. There isnt much selection in Cape Breton for vets. Would they be removed seperately or would removing more then one at one time be possible?

 

[jorats]

That really sucks that she's got 3 now. It all depends on the vets if they want to remove all three. My vet would do it but she's very experienced with rats.

 

[Kayla2]

It does suck. The first one doesnt seem to be growing, but the other two just came out of nowheres.

 

[Kayla2]

We are going to the vet today, I'm not really sure what to expect. Hopefully all goes well

 

[Kayla2]

So I went to the vet with the most experience with rats that I could find.. She told me that with her age and the amount of tumors she has she would be uncomfortable doing a surgery, even more so because its pretty much guarenteed she will get more tumors. In the end it is up to me, do I want someone who is uncomfortable performing a surgery or do I let my girl live out her life? She is still eating,drinking and acting like her normal self. The vet has removed tumors before but has also had some rats die before the surgery was done. Oh and I thought about it some more and she is older then 18 months, I think shes around 20-21 months old.

 

[jorats]

In an ideal world, with a great vet, tumour removal and spay would definitely be the way to go. But, as we all know we aren't in that world. What you could do at this point is keep her happy, comfortable, have her on a good healthy, low fat, low sugar diet and perhaps research some supplements that have been related to shrinking tumours.