Pregnant or tumor or both? Help!

[Michaeljdawyd]

One of my females got loose thanks to my roommate while I was out, and she may be pregnant now as she somehow got into the males cage on another table in another room...????

She also has a large grape sized lump on her belly in front of her left back leg. This was NOT there yesterday as I was playing with her and she was fine.

Could this be a tumor or pregnancy? It appeared very quickly.

Worried and want to know what actions I need to take

 

[Dazzle87]

To check for pregnancy, weighing is usually the easiest way. Also, you can see if she goes in heat.

Pregnant bellies are not little lumps, that is either a tumor, abscess, or cyst. A vet can tell for you. If it's a tumor, you may want to spay her during it's removal (assuming she's a surgical candidate), it will humanely terminate the pregnancy, and minimize the growth and incidence of future tumors.

 

[Michaeljdawyd]

Which is better,

Should I spay the females or neuter the males? Is there any change in behaviour or health?

Her genital area was reddened so I'm assuming the deed was done, if so I'll choose to spay the females

 

[Dazzle87]

Well, spaying will terminate the pregnancy and prevent new ones, while neutering will only prevent future ones. So long as she is early in the pregnancy, I would spay her ASAP. Spaying has many health benefits, reduced tumors, slower growth of tumors, no uterine problems like pyometra or cancer, etc. It does a lot for females, I spay all my girls now. You get the most tumor prevention when spayed young, but it still helps when they are older. Spaying is a bit more invasive than a neuter, but with a competent vet the biggest risk is anesthesia, which is quite small with a healthy rat. Usually, if a rat doesnt make it, it's because there was an underlying problem, like heart or respiratory.

Neutering has limited health benefits, since males rarely get testicular cancer, but it has behavioral benefits. If a rat is overly hormonal, neutering takes care of it. With rats that aren't hormonal, I'd prioritize spays. This is just my opinion though.

 

[Michaeljdawyd]

Thanks for the info, my dumbo males are so calm and well behaved I believe I can let them keep their nuts

Good to know spaying will help improve the health and lifespan for my females.