Tumor?

[Lithade72]

Well, now that I've introduced myself and the rest of my brood, I would really like some advice/reassurance with this. Rosie has what I can only figure is a mammary tumor under her left arm. It's roughly the size of a quarter, and wasn't there two days ago. I felt of it, and it's soft, with a slightly hard center, and it moves about fairly freely under her skin as though it's not really attached to anything else. This makes me hope that a removal surgery would be fairly simple. I have been giving them blueberries and purple grapes to try and help prevent cancers and tumors, but I guess it just wasn't enough. :sad3:

She doesn't seem to be in any pain, or be bothered by it at all, but I know that going without it being removed that it can grow to about the same size as her and essentially starve her from all the nutrients she takes in. I'm not going to let that happen. I'm calling up vets tomorrow, as living in an area known as the "Bible belt" causes everything to be closed on Sundays. I'm keeping calm much better than I was this morning when I found it. I don't do well with my babies being injured/ill. I guess I'm looking for any suggestions or comforting thoughts from people with more experience than me. Thanks so much in advance.

 

[Rachael]

What age is she?

If she is healthy enough, and her breathing is good, if your vet is confident to do so I don't see why a removal wouldn't be able to go ahead. You sound like you've got everything under control so good luck at the vets, watch how fast it grows.

 

[jorats]

Yep a typical benign mammary tumour. Nothing really prevents them except a spay can reduce the risk. Have you thought of doing a spay at the same time of removal? I've had 29 girls spayed and only 2 had a recurring mammary tumour. Those are some pretty good odds.

 

[trexgorawrrrrr]

wow, Jo! that's proof in itself. honestly is making me consider spaying my girls. the only reason would be to prevent turmors like the one this little rattie has...

but some people would say yeah it helps, while others say no. but it looks liike you have your own proof in sheer numbers of just having all your girls spayed.

 

[Maple]

Yay.....love those odds. Good news for me as all my girls are done.

 

[Lithade72]

Wow! 2 out of 29! That's awesome. I am definitely interested. I'm a little worried about competence of our local vets though... Rat's aren't really popular pets around these parts. Mainly just dogs, cats, and horses. If I can find someone I feel actually knows what they're doing, after I do more of my own research, it will be an absolute yes.

I'm not sure of Rosie's exact age. I'd say she was between seven and ten months when I got her this past June. She has had no other health problems. I also give all my girls echinacea to boost their immune systems, so she's never even had sniffles.


Thanks so much for your help.

 

[jorats]

Our numbers are even greater if i were to factor in all my mom's girls and my sister's girls. All our females get spayed here no matter their age.

But ya, a good vet is important.

 

[Marylou]

Wow! 2 out of 29! That's awesome. I am definitely interested. I'm a little worried about competence of our local vets though... Rat's aren't really popular pets around these parts. Mainly just dogs, cats, and horses. If I can find someone I feel actually knows what they're doing, after I do more of my own research, it will be an absolute yes.

I'm not sure of Rosie's exact age. I'd say she was between seven and ten months when I got her this past June. She has had no other health problems. I also give all my girls echinacea to boost their immune systems, so she's never even had sniffles.


Thanks so much for your help.

If you are near or can have your vet contact anyone at Tulane, an AAALAC accredited facility,they have a huge Vet staff for their research department, I'm sure the Vets there would be happy to converse with your vet for advise on the Rats.

 

[Lithade72]

Unfortunately Tulane is about six hours from me. :? Great back up plan though. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Joanne]

I've had two girls that have had mammary tumors. As soon as I noticed them, I booked the surgery to have them excised. If you get it done early when the tumor is small, it is a very simple surgery. Both my girls bounced back no problem.

 

[Marylou]

Unfortunately Tulane is about six hours from me. :? Great back up plan though. Thanks for the suggestion.

Your Vet could call or e-mail them, I have found that many Vets aren't used to working with the rodents and they need help with dosage and anesthesia, etc.

 

[Lithade72]

Thanks for the info. I have set up a time this friday to bring Rosie in to let the vet check out the size and such of the tumor, and so I can drill her about the procedure. If things don't line up with the info that I've gotten from this site, I'll be looking for a more experienced vet. Thanks so much for all your support. :nod:

 

[Lithade72]

Well, I want to thank everyone for their support and suggestions with Rosie. She had her surgery this afternoon, and is now back home and doing great! I will try to get around to pics, and weigh her again for the post-removal, but for now I'm letting her rest as much, or even more, than she wants to. My confidence in our vet is greatly expanded as he was using my print out from this site as a sort of guide throughout. Also, I am even more happy now that I postponed the surgery for a week because a local university held a conference with the staff at the animal hospital about exotics, and covered rats. Thank you again for every kind word and thought. This is truly a wonderful community to be a part of. :heart: :cuddle: :heart:

 

[jorats]

That's great news!

 

[Moon]

Fabulous news

 

[mamarat]

That's great.

 

[Joanne]

Here's hoping for a fast and uneventful recovery for your girl!

 

[Lithade72]

Thanks so much! So far Rosie seems to be doing really well. She's behaving normally and eating good. I am keeping her and Lena in the pet carrier for now though. The reason for this is that I tried yesterday to put Rosie back in the big cage with everyone else, and I was watching very closely. Three of the younger girls surrounded her, and had her on her back, and were grooming the stitched area. Rosie was squeaking, and I'm not sure if it was a painful or protesting squeak, but I really didn't want to find out. The squeaks weren't very loud, and they were fairly short, but it didn't seem to deter the other kids at all. Once I shooed them away and let Rosie get back on her feet, Pancake came right back and started with the grooming again. This time it almost looked as though Rosie's squeaks were exciting Pancake even more, as Pancake almost went into a frenzy chewing at the stainless steel stitches. I don't like this at all, so I'm keeping Rose and Lena, one of the only girls who hasn't groomed at the wound, in the pet carrier for at least a couple more days.

Any thoughts on why Pancake was acting that way? I have read that if a rat seems ill or wounded that sometimes other rats will kill them. Could this be the case, or perhaps it is more of a childish reaction from the little one?

Sadly Pancake is the only one who had any trouble with the two groups joining up. It seems that she gets "picked on" more than any other girl. By "picked on" I mean wrestled to the ground and pinned, with the "victor" just standing on top of her for several seconds. The only thing I can think of is that she's having a hard time understanding her place in the pecking order, and the others feel she needs to be reminded. Not sure. Thanks again everyone.

 

[jorats]

I would say that Pancake reacted to the stitches in the same way rats react to our bandaids. For some reason rats are intent on "getting rid of" anything that doesn't belong.

 

[Lithade72]

I can relate to that. It just seemed so much like Rosie's sounds of distress encouraged Pancake's actions, since that was when she became quite a bit more intent on "tending" to the spot. I guess there's no telling. Maybe Pancake will think differently after she gets a set of stitches of her own when she gets spayed. :roll: