Stange mass on neck

[RattoPazzo]

It looks like we don't get to rest.
Two days ago I noticed my 2 year old rat as developed a mass on her neck. It presents as a hard stiff lump, very different from the mammary tumors she had before. It appeard semengly overnight and is now the size of a small grape. she dosen't to mind but I'm wondering wat it coud be. this is unfortunately the best picture I could get.
could this be an abscess? will she need antibiotics?

 

[lilspaz68]

Is your girl sneezing or crackling at all? Is the lump directly in the middle of her throat? Have you gotten any new or handled any strange rats in the last week or so?
Does the lump have a scab on or near it.
The scab could mean abscess, yes to the other symptoms could mean a contagious rat virus.

 

[RattoPazzo]

I took in two new rats but it's now been more than 3 weeks since they have been living in the same room. one of them was on ab for a respiratory infection that has now gone.
the mass is not centerd but a bit in one side. it has grown a bit since I wrote. there is no scab, but the skin looks a bit more pink than usual. she is a bit more sneezy than usual, along with the other new rat that has no lump.

4 days before the mass apperard she did take a bit of a fall and had a head tilt fo 5 minutes. as it seamed to have resolved it's self, I diden't take mutch notice at the time.

 

[lilspaz68]

Ok you possibly have SDA virus. The lump in the throat should disappear on its own if so. The sneezes will get worse and the virus will shed in about a week after initial exposure. Then you will need to treat the secondary symptoms with antibiotics. If it's a mass it will continue to grow and be very solid. If it's an abscess eventually a darkening or scab will show on skin and it will end up opening up and hopefully draining. If it is an abscess let us know and we'll help you figure out next steps (isotonic saline and flushing twice a day).

 

[RattoPazzo]

The sneezes will get worse and the virus will shed in about a week after initial exposure.

It's already been more than 3 weeks since she got in direct contact with the other rats and almost one since she has the mass/lump. How long should it take to start getting smaller?

If it's a mass it will continue to grow and be very solid.

What do you mean by mass? a tumor or an abcess?
if its the second, it already feals pretty solid, with "large" base so to say.

 

[lilspaz68]

Mass would be a tumour. Hopefully it's just an abscess.

 

[RattoPazzo]

little update.
today the vet confirmed the worst. It' a tumor, but they couldn't tell me what kind. It's a hardish mass that has started to minerelize, it's in the tyroid area but is not very mutch vascularized. she is now on an antiflamatory for the swelling.
She is still very, very active but the speed this thing appeard with scares me.

 

[lilspaz68]

I'm so sorry.

 

[RattoPazzo]

so, this story dosen't want to end. Yesterday I noticed a scab on the mass and now it seams to have opend up a bit with a creamy type of pus comming out. I've given her some antibiotics (enrofloaxcin) in case of infection, but for now it's not smally. she is now back in her cage and sleaping.
could the vet be wrong and it's just an abscess after all? She her self told me that the mass was not attached to the vascualr system, so what would be feading the tumor?

 

[lilspaz68]

It looks more like a cyst or abscess. You can try squeezing it a little to see if it expresses like toothpaste.

 

[RattoPazzo]

it's closed again now so I'll wait till tomorrow when there's light again. while it was open it did look like that me manipulating the area was facilitating the stuf to come out, but I didn't want to squeeze, for fear of makeing it pop on the inside.
the mass is now softer then before, but still pretty big. can I try a hot compress next time?
also, I read that it still might be a tumor, and an abscess has formed around it. could this be why they saw something strange on the ultrasound they did?

thanks for your patient!

 

[lilspaz68]

Cysts and abscesses can fool the best of us. . There's only a few tumours that abscess first like a Zymbals gland tumour. Tumours usually bleed, cysts have no real smell and abscesses smell revolting (bacteria). If it's softer then it likely is a cyst . Try either damp hot compress or a sitz bath in a couple of inches of hot/warm water as long as it's either submersed or close to the water.

 

[RattoPazzo]

ok, thenks so mutch! I'm so relived it turned out to be a smaller problem.
I'll updete if anything else happens

 

[RattoPazzo]

the cyst (or what ever it is) has opend and is now completly clean
it's been a long hour but we are done. she also took the antibiotic and is now finally resting. she si a bit out of it, understendebly, but she has eaten and is drinking. she is still panting and I was wondering if she could be in pain or just under shock so to say. should I give her some meloxicam?

also, I'm still wondering what this was. the consisency was cremy but also granular. it smalled a bit like rancid fat but just if you would hold your nose cose to it. here are some picturs of the stuf that came out and poor Tamira with the last of the stuff that had to come out. you can see it in her face that she is done with this sh*t, poor baby

 

[lilspaz68]

Looks like a cyst. Panting isn't good. First hold her sides to your ears and rule out a respiratory infection. You may need to give her pain relief.

 

[RattoPazzo]

Ok, so it is a cyst after all! very interesting concistany I have to say
I held her side but she sounds clear. she also calmed down in the mine time and is now busy bilding her nest for the night.
one last thing (I hope): as I was holding her I saw that there is still a bit of stuff left in there. I'm not shure she can reach to clean it herself there so I'll have to clean it out as soon as possible, correct?
Thenks for all your advice!

 

[lilspaz68]

Time to flush the cavity with saline twice a day.

 

[RattoPazzo]

Flushed first thing in the morning, and she was really good about it. I also meneged to get some more of the stuff out. I didn't manege to get the sack out and I read somewher that unless you get it out the cyst migth come back? if so should I get the vet to do it?

 

[lilspaz68]

If the cyst recurs over and over that's when you might have to look at surgical removal of the sac. But since it's cystic material not bacteria laden abscess material it's not as big a deal.

 

[RattoPazzo]

Final Update (I hope )

After 3 days of flushing I left her to heal on her own. It's now been almost a week and she is completly heald! She did however gain a bit of weight and is now a bit back heavy because of all the treats she had douring "extration" and some of the flushings. I'll have to finde out how to diet a 2 year old. she is still very active so I don't think it's going to be too mutch of a struggle.

Thanks so mutch for all your advice!

Bonus picture of the little devil stuffing her face at her birhday party