small red bump

[ChrisK]

I noticed there seemed to be a hole in Lollipop's fur under her chin for a few weeks, but today it seemed more fur was parted around the area, and I took a very close look. It's a bit difficult to describe, and this photo isn't too great, but the best I could get so far. It looks like a very small red bump but more accurately, a slightly raised surface with a bit of a white spot in it. It looks somewhat like a fungus I'd gotten years ago. I don't *think* it's a pimple. She doesn't seem in the least bit bothered by it, and is otherwise very energetic, and happy.

Any ideas what this could be? I am thinking of bringing her in to the vet to have it checked, but maybe I should monitor longer instead? Lollipop is about a year and 8 months old.

note that the spot I'm referring to is the one that's centered under her chin. the spot that appears on the photo to your right is just a dark spot with a whisker. You may need to zoom in to see it.

 

[mamarat]

Could it be an abcess? I would try compresses and see if it will pop and you can clean it out.

 

[ChrisK]

Thanks for your response! I will try that tonight..

It's kinda hard to know what this one is.. I was able to get an appointment with the vet for this Thursday, though. I will be glad to have him take a look. I'm *really* hoping it's just some little insignificant thing..

 

[mamarat]

Good luck at the vet.

 

[jorats]

Mmm... I've not seen anything like that. Please let us know what the vet thinks.
Does it seem like a scab?

 

[ChrisK]

sorry for my tardy response (I've been literally working around the clock this week.) It does not really look like a scab. The photo doesn't really do it proper justice, because when you get very very close to it, it's red, but I first noticed it because it appears as a black hole in her fur, which is what the camera seems to pick up.

I'll post an update after we've been to the vet tonight. Thanks again for your responses!

 

[jorats]

Good luck!

 

[mamarat]

Good luck at the vet.

 

[ChrisK]

Phew! The vet took a good look, and looked inside her mouth at her teeth, and took a scraping. He said it is NOT anything that looks like a tumor, is NOT anything that needs removal, does not appear to be from mites. It does have a bit of dried fluid, and so surmising that it was a cut of sorts that had a minor infection of sorts, but is clearing up. The best thing to do is let it be. (There's no swelling or anything oozing out of it, etc.)

So I guess we could say this was just a boo-boo that's best left to heal by itself.

I'm just glad that it isn't anything serious. Thanks for all your well wishes!

 

[jorats]

Hopefully it will heal fast enough. I'd keep an eye on it still.

 

[mamarat]

Sending healing vibes to your sweetie.

 

[ChrisK]

Thanks! I will continue to keep an eye on it for sure.

 

[LadyGray]

Hi, thought i'd use this thread as it's related. Lady has a lump, and right now I can't really see any point in going to the vet, not at this early stage anyway because they're all so useless, will probably say everything's fine, and then she'll get worse (has happened with in the past). so I'll describe the lump here; it's big, under her left leg at the front, it came on really suddenly. It's not painful to her at the moment, in fact she's the happiest i've ever seen her. It's not really hard, kind of soft, feels just like fat to me, but i'm sure it isn't. I mean, if it was a really hard lump, i'm fairly certain she'd be walking funny because it's right next to her leg. I don't actually know how to describe it any further than that, so if you could tell me what exactly to look for I can try and figure it out. if I know exactly what it is myself, I can make sure the vet is doing his job properly!

 

[ChrisK]

I am reading / watching for responses to your post with great interest. It seems that Lollipop has just developed exactly the same thing, just it's behind her right front leg. This also came on suddenly--in the last two days or so. She did not have it when we went to the vet on Thursday. The bump is not exposed, that is, it is still covered in fur. Your description matches exactly. And this is a separate issue from the small red bump, and in a different place.

Has anyone got a clue what this could be?

 

[ChrisK]

I just came back from the vet. he looked at Lollipop's soft lump near her right under arm. he took a sample of it and looked at it under the microscope. said it's a mammary tumor. he said there was milk in the sample, so her hormones are doing something there too. and that there were some strange things going on with some of the cells. We talked about course of action. He said because of where it's located, he can't be sure he'll be able to get it all out with surgery. But Lollipop is a year and 9 months, and he expects she'll survive the surgery ok.

I just don't know if we should go ahead with it. I scheduled it, because the vet said that it's best if we're going to do it, to have the surgery in the next few weeks, before the tumor grows much. Lollipop had a growth removed from behind her ear when she was about a year old. If I understand correctly from reading, once a mammary tumor appears, usually others begin to appear. The vet said he could remove the first one, but if he doesn't get it all, or if another one comes along, it's not as effective to continue removing them at that point. However, he also said that rats tend to live just fine with mammary tumors -- that is, it doesn't seem to bother them much. However, he also said we're talking maybe 4-6 months left. Having the surgery could buy her some time. But then, she'd also have the recovery from surgery, etc. to do. I'm wondering if it's better to let it be.

 

[jorats]

For those interested... the thread sort of continues here:
viewtopic.php?f=21&t=19621