SMall lump on belly

[belle_foudre]

So this morning when I went to go see my girls, I took out pheebie and noticed that she has a small lump on her belly, almost on a nipple. I could not really get a great look at it cause she still gets nervous, when I have to be a little rough with her. I have her out many time throughout the day so, im sure I would have noticed this before. Which leads me to think its maybe a pimple, or a inflamed boil? If rats can even get those, however Im worried that it could also be a abcess or a tumor. Is there anything I can do to help her out, or to at least find out what it is? I will try to take a picture, or better yet, a video. Anyway Im going to make a vet appt, if it looks like it getting worse. Here is what I know: Its a small lump about the size of a pea, its between her 2 back legs, closer to her left one. Its not hard t the touch, but I didnt puch n it either, so I dont know how soft it is. Any help would be great!!!

 

[mamarat]

Is your girl spayed? It could be a mammary tumor, usually easy to remove. Good luck.

 

[jorats]

How old is Pheebie? is she a hairless?
It sounds like it could be an abscess or a benign mammary tumour. If she's a nakie girl, it could also be a keratin cyst.

 

[belle_foudre]

No she is not a hairless. From what I have read online about the differences in rats, she is a black and white hooded dumbo. I have had these girls for about 3 months. When I got them the woman told me she got her from petco about 6 months ago. So my guess is shes about 10 months to a year old. I guess she is at that age where she is going to start having some health issues. Is there anything I can do to help her out? And no I dont think she is spayed, she has no scars, and the woman I got her from didnt say anything abut it.

 

[jorats]

I'd bring her to a vet... she's kind of young for a mammary tumour. If you have a good exotic vet, he/she should know if removal is an option or if meds would be good enough.

 

[belle_foudre]

ok, we dont really have a good exotic vet in town. We learned about what the vets around my area offer when we have taken reptiles in. We even have a vet school in town but its mainly large animal clinics, and dogs/cats, the standard stuff. What would meds do for her? Could this be a internal infection, that could be shrunk with antibiotics? I hope its nothing injectabe, I will need to file down some claws!

 

[jorats]

If it's an abscess or other type of dermal infection, meds like Baytril or Clavamox would certainly help.

 

[belle_foudre]

Thanks, do you know how they would tell? Will they do xrays, or will a physical exam work? I want to make sure I know exactly what to ask for. is there anything I can do fr her until I can get her into see a vet?

 

[Cigar]

In the mean time you can hold a warm cloth to it 3-4 times a day. If it's an abscess this will bring it to a head in time. You'll likely begin to notice a gross smell coming from it. It'll turn into a scab, which you'll have to peel off, and drain the pus. I like to flush open abscesses at least twice a day with a needle-less syringe and warm salt water.
I know the big hole will look scary but don't worry about Polysporin or any creams, an abscess has to heal from the inside out. If another scab forms during the healing process you have to peel it off. Because they can reoccur you have to be on top of flushing it and keeping the cage clean.

Luckily abscesses are pretty routine and don't always need vet attention. If you don't gag too easily it'll be a piece of cake! Hehe. Last abscess I had to clean burst with smelly, green pus.. blech! Oh!

Can you grab the mass between your fingers (is it "free floating"?) or is it attached to her? Depending on that, the vet would probably take a fine needle aspiration to check for blood, pus, or cancer cells.

 

[jorats]

If you have an exotic vet, he will know by the look of it if it's a skin issue. Or he may aspirate to observe the cells.

You can do the compress on her and hopefully, it will pop at home and all you need to do is keeping clean.

 

[belle_foudre]

OK so I will check the swell and see if its free floating. I cany get to her now cause I just cleaned out the cage and gave them some frozen veggies so they are doing the stashing game. Im guessing I want this to be "free floating", that will mean its a abcess right? If it turns out to be a abcess should I separate her from Zoey, so Zoey cant "clean" it? Should I give her some anti biotics as well to help her body fight the infection? What about bandaging it, or should it always be airing out? HAHA there is probably a sticky in this section that answers all of these questions lol. But thanks anyway

 

[minnow]

If it's free floating, it would be easier to remove if it turns out not to be an abscess. You don't need to separate your rats, all it does is stress them out. If the lump is the size of a pea or smaller, antibiotics probably aren't needed. If it's bigger, they'd be a good idea, just to help her body get rid of the infection. As far as bandaging, well, it's near impossible to keep a bandage on a rat, so let it air and flush it several times a day.

 

[belle_foudre]

yeah I didnt think about how I would keep a bandage on her lol. So if it is a abcess and I can pop it, its going to be ok when Zoey licks at it to try and clean it? Its a tad bigger than a pea. But the reason I ask about the antibiotics is cause I have lots of left over batryl from taking various snakes and my lizard to the vet. They never know how much to prescribe so I always have ended up with extra. But Im not going to do anything until I know for sure what it is. I hope its just a abcess, but I will keep everyone updated.

 

[belle_foudre]

So I moved it around when I got home and it free floating and its soft. I didnt have to squeeze very hard to tell its was pretty soft. I hope thats a good sign. It felt like I could have squeezed it and popped it, but I didnt dare. She didnt squeak or anything like I was hurting her, just the normal squirming.

In this one you can tell that its free floating

I hope these help

 

[jorats]

That's looking more like a mammary tumour.

 

[belle_foudre]

How big could this get if it is cancer? I cant get in to see a vet until thursday next week, unless I take her to the er. Which really is not a option for me. Would a abcess be hard, is that why you said that, or cause of the pictures?
Edited: could a tumor really pop up that fast?

 

[jorats]

Ya, a tumour can pop up that fast. If it's malignant, it would grow fast. But this looks like a typical benign mammary tumour. It's still very small and it can definitely hold off for a week for the vet.
Abscesses are usually hard but not always, and the pics looks to me like mammary.

 

[belle_foudre]

OK thats sounds good. Is it going to be like a surgery? The whole nine yards, with anesthetic and recovery time?

 

[jorats]

If it's a removal, it's the whole shebang.

 

[belle_foudre]

What do u mean by If its a removal? DO you mean if in fact it is cancer? Sorry I dont mean to pepper you with questions. :laugh4: