tumor tender from dragging? : tumor slings??

[ChrisK]

I'm not sure what I'm looking at, and therefore what to do on this score. May I have your thoughts?

One of Skittles' tumors drags when she's walking. Generally, she does not appear to be in pain, but she didn't want to come out this morning at the usual hour. Possibly because she was very active last night.

I noticed that the bottom of the mammary tumor ( which is mostly hairless) has turned a redish/purplish color. Plus it has what appears to be a skin tag or mole of sorts on it now. This extra bit of skin is normal skin tone color.

I was thinking of putting some kind of moisturizer on the tumor, just while she's out with us, so that she doesn't groom it / ingest it. But am not certain if this is just an irritation, or if it's something else, i.e. a fungus, blood coming to the surface, other?

I'm also wondering if I should be giving her ibuprofen or metacam for discomfort, or if I should be bringing her to the vet to have this checked.

May I have your thoughts?

 

[eagle]

Do you have pictures of it. It sounds like irritation from being dragged around. What kind of bedding are you using?

 

[ChrisK]

The bottom of the cage is plastic and I use lots of loose bits of fleece to cover it for bedding.

I'll try to post a photo tonight.

 

[jorats]

I personally wouldn't bother with a vet yet. I'd do the moisturizing, something with oatmeal in it. Or even try polysporin or both, allow the polysporin to absorb then add the moisturizer.
And I agree a picture would help and might even change my advice to you.

 

[ChrisK]

My girl has been making respiratory congestion sounds, so I brought her to the vet anyway. She's on baytril now for her uri. While there, we also discussed her large tumors. It appears they are just irritated from rubbing on the ground when she walks. The vet suggested I make some sort of home made wrap/sling to help hold them up for her.

While I thought this was an intriguing idea, I have no clue how to make such a thing... I have visions of her trying to chew it off and getting stuck :roll:

But I've read that there are surgical wraps sometimes useful to keep ratties from chomping away at their surgical stitches.. so I thought maybe there's already something like this out there.

Has anyone made or used a wrap of sorts for this purpose before? If so, how would I fashion one or where could I purchase one?

I'll just add that, in the meantime, I'm putting a non toxic moisturizing lotion on her tumors twice daily.

 

[Dazzle87]

I've only used wraps to prevent surgical incision chewing, but I would think you'd do it pretty much the same way. You can get the no-stick wrap (usually sold for athletes, but also sold as "vet wrap"). It sticks to itself but not fur. You just wrap it somewhat type, but be sure to wrap around the legs making a cross as well as around the tumor so that she can't squirm out of it. Hopefully my instructions were coherent to you.

 

[jorats]

I can't see putting anything on it like a sling, without the rat trying furiously to remove it.
Did you give it a try?

 

[victoria]

Would there be a bigger risk of sores if you did this? (Bed sore type sores I mean...)

 

[MomRat]

Gregory's tumors have been stretching the skin and occasionally breaking through, and our vet recommended a polysporin cream, not the clear ointment but the white cream so it absorbs quickly. She also recommended vitamin e oil, as long as we weren't using a loose/paper bedding that crud would get stuck in it.

 

[Dazzle87]

Would there be a bigger risk of sores if you did this? (Bed sore type sores I mean...)

I've had to wear these for sprained ankles, and I never had any problem. They of course need to be changed, but I think it is fine.

 

[victoria]

Would there be a bigger risk of sores if you did this? (Bed sore type sores I mean...)

I've had to wear these for sprained ankles, and I never had any problem. They of course need to be changed, but I think it is fine.

I was thinking sores may develop in the crease created by the sling holding the lump closer to the body. I'm not sure if that's clear, I just don't know how to explain it.

 

[ChrisK]

I can't see putting anything on it like a sling, without the rat trying furiously to remove it.
Did you give it a try?

I haven't tried it yet. For the past few days, I've been using a moisturizer I'd purchased which is non-toxic, so we can put it on and leave it on. But it doesn't seem to be helping too much, and I was planning to get some poly today.

I'm nervous about the sling idea because it'll be hard to get her to stay still long enough for me to figure out how to do this. Doing this kind of stuff is not a strong point for me. I will probably pick up some of the generic non-stick wrap today when I purchase the poly, but I will try using just the poly first.

MomRat -- you mentioned your vets recommendation.. may I ask how you do this? Do you put the cream on and just keep your rattie out 'till it's absorbed? Or do you put it on, and wash it off before putting Gregory back in the cage?

I wonder if I could use olive oil instead because it's okay if she ingests some of it. It would moisturize, but not have the antibiotic properties poly has.

 

[MomRat]

The cream absorbs very quickly, rather than the ointment, but it is hard to find. I assume you would just rub it on and let it soak in for a few minutes. The E oil does not soak in too quickly, but is totally safe to ingest orally(it comes in little capsules that are designed to be swallowed, you poke a hole in them with a pin and squeeze some out to rub on). Vitamin E promotes healing and keeps the skin from drying out, it is recommended to people for preventing wounds from scarring.

 

[ChrisK]

ah. got it. Thanks. picked up the poly cream at lunch time and will try it out tonight. Fingers crossed!

 

[kscanuck785]

i've seen someone using a baby sock to cover most of the body, but cutting the toe part open and 2 holes for front legs and the heel part fits nicely on the rat chest.
I'd try it while you can supervise her, see how she behaves with it and then decide if in her case, it's a safe option or not.