HElp my....rat......tumor!?

Question

my vet is closed what do i do if my rat has a tumor on the bottom of her side

Answer 1

Well, it definately is not an emergnecy. Tumors grow at slow speeds, so it's already been there for at least a few weeks. Waiting until the vet is next open will not be a problem.

The vet will diagnose the type of tumor it is. Mammary tumors are most common and located under the skin, so they are easy to remove. But other kinds of tumors, grow in the muscle or bone, and are very difficult to remove.

Have a read through this article: http://www.rmca.org/Articles/tumors.htm

Tumors are unfortunately very common in rats, females especially. Removing it is not the only definate thing to do. Surgery for small animals is fairly risky itself due to the use of anesthesia. The other option is to leave the tumor alone. It will be affecting the rat, and slowly breaking down its health however. If you decide to leave it in, it's ususally to euthanize at some point, when the rat becomes very ill.

But a vet will give you a more descriptive, and applicable analysis, and will suggest the best thing for the rat.

Answer 2

Extremely common problem with rats. They can live with them for quite a while, but it will eventually be their end. If you cant afford surgery, just enjoy the rest of your time. Unfortunately thats all you can do.

Answer 3

My rat had a tumour on his neck and the best thing to do is asked for it to be removed and if not then have he/she put down....its not fair for them to go through pain...x i'm sorry about this

Answer 4

Eraser's answer was exactly what I was going to suggest, however I've recently learned more about current anesthesia techniques that are not as risky as older practices.  As long as your vet is using Isoflurane or some similar gas (as opposed to an intraperitoneal injection) the animals do very well under anesthesia and there is very low risk of losing your pet due to complications with anesthesia.

Talk to your vet.

Answer 5

First discern whether or not it /is/ a tumor.

If it is hard, and you can't isolate it under the skin(like it's attatched to something) it's mostlikely a tumor.

If it's fairly soft, and you can isolate it under the skin: it's mostikely an abscess.

(Abscess treatment outline here: http://www.ratforum.com/Forums/viewtopic... )

Tumors may or may not be benign, as rats are prone to tumors. It's not immediately dangerous to your rat unless it's compressing a vital organ, so it will be okay to wait for your vet's office to open and schedule a tumor removal. :)