lump on leg, vaginal bleeding

Question
My rat Killer, is an albino female rat. We recently noticed a oval shaped lump on her left front leg, and yesterday she started to bleed vaginally. Do you know what could be going on? What I should do?

Answer
She needs to see a vet asap. It sounds like she has a womb infection which can be treated by spaying her. It is a big operation for a rat but the same happened to one of my girls and she came through it and is doing great. It also sounds like she has a lump on her leg that needs removed and it can be treated at the same time as she is spayed. She will need a lot of care and also antibiotics. Be sure to find a rat friendly vet. You may need to seperate her from her cage mates for a few days after surgery. If left untreated she will probably die very slowly and painfully from infection and blood loss. I hope that she gets better.