What can I do about the tumors on my rat?

Question

My rat has 2 tumors, 1 is to the left of his head and back a little, and the other is right on the center of his back. The one by his head is a ball and the one on his back feels like it is attached and is only like a half circle.

I was thinking of starting to feed it less since the rat is fat and I read that obesity is a common cause of tumors, is this a good idea? Are there any other things I can do to treat the tumors?

Answer 1

i think tumors are serious take him to the vet.

Answer 2

You can't really treat them all my hooded rat died of tumors so i would just keep feeding it the same and a rat can live a awhile with tumors but surgery to remove them is often fatal. SORRY

Answer 3

Take him to the vet to get them lanced. They might be able to figure it out that way, or might suggest removal.

I just had my rat get a tumor removed...it was a benign hair folicle tumor.

Answer 4

tumors can be surgically removed...they also heel fast!

Answer 5

Actually, feeding less will be a negative thing to do, as tumors feed off of the rat, therefore your rat will technically be getting less from what he's eating.

Do you have a local vet that handles rats? If so, you may want to set up an appointment and see if he's a candidate for tumor removal surgery. It may be costly, but it's worth it for the comfort of your rat.

Answer 6

See a vet and ask him to have sugery done on the rat to remve his tumors the rat will be fine but it will have to stay over night at the animal hospital.

Answer 7

Take it to the vet and get some professional advice, don't ask for advice on here when the matter is a life of a pet...geesh, your gonna kill the poor thing.

Answer 8

As was said above this is an unfortunate thing for rats. They are prone to tumors and abcesses. Especially the females. Alot of causes of tumors in rats with the females are mammory tumors. Studies shown that getting your rat spade or nuetered can lessen the percentage that they will get a tumor. What your seeing might not be a tumor at all but an abcess. Abcesses are very common and easy and cheap to treat. Best way to get it to bust is put a warm compress on it 3 times a day till it comes to a head or put her in the bathtub or sink in warm water and let it soak on there for a couple of minutes. If it is an abcess/cyst when it decides to come to a head the skin on the end or top of it will turn black and get hard like a scab. Make sure if it is an abcess and it busts to put an antibiotic like neosporin in the open hole where all the pus came out at. This will help it heal super fast and it wont get infected. Your rat may then need to take a trip to the vet for some antibiotics to clear it completely up. Out of the many rats that I have owned only 3 had actual tumors. The rest were abcesses/cysts. Just try using warm compresses on it before you take him to the vet. If within a week they dont bust it is probably a tumor. Unfortunatly tumor removals can be costly and just because you had it removed doesnt mean it wont come back. Some rats that have tumors can live out there normal lives without to many problems as long as the tumor isnt pushing or attached to any main organs. Good luck and I hope he gets better.

Answer 9

I'm sorry, first of all.

They can be surgically removed, but, like someone already said, it doesn't mean they won't die.

Take him to the vet ASAP.

Answer 10

I'm so sorry...but tumors are inevitable in domesticated rats, and are usually what causes them to die. Unfortunatley there isn't much you can do about it aside from paying a lot of money for surgery - which still won't guarentee they will survive. Ask your vet what they think you can do to make the animal feel the most comfortable, and just be super loving and caring for it. Rats really only have a 3-5 year lifespan.