Pet-sitting Rat with tumor... help!?

Question

Alright, so my friend is going camping and I offered to pet-sit her two rats while she was gone.

I knew one rat had a tumor, but the tumor was only the size of a pin head last time I saw it, so I wasn't to worried.

My friend, however, forgot to mention that the tumor has now grown to be the size of a golf ball.

The rats are both about 2 years old, so I know that dying is a very real possibility, but I just want to make the rats as comfortable as I can.

The tumor is between the front paws, and seems to slow the rat down quite a bit. The rat doesn't move much, either.

So, my main questions are:

Should I take the rat out of it's cage to keep it active?

Is it possible to pick it up without hurting it?

If so, then how?

Anything else I can do to help the rat?

And if the rat does die while my friend is away, is there a way to dispose of the body so the smell won't disturb the other occupants of my house?

Thank you so much!

Answer 1

It sounds like a mammary tumor.  You should probably ask your friend why she hasn't taken it to the vet, as those are usually very easy to remove.

Mammary tumors often aren't all that harmful.  They get in the way, but aren't always a cause of death when compared to other types of tumors.  If she can move around, then let her.  All rats need time outside of the cage, even if they don't do much outside it.

If she dies, I presume you should either wrap her in a towel and put her in the freezer (So your friend can bury her) or just bury her yourself.