Lump

Question
Hi,
I have a young male rat. Hes white and has a black stripe down his back. I had him out the other day and noticed a firm pea sized lump on the right side of his body. Any ideas?

Answer
Yep, proably a mammary tumor.  I just found one on my gray rat and a second rat has one on his thigh. Although males get them too, the good news is they usually dont grow back like they do with females once removed.  However, surgery is a good idea if the rat is healthy and not a chubby 3 year old, the skill of the vet is VITAL for a good outcome. I have been sad lately after hearing from way to many rat owners that have lost their rats during surgery.  Not long ago, a vet removed a rats kidneys during a spay rather than the ovaries and just the other day a rat died from congestive heart failure after the vet removed tumors and wrapped the poor thing like a burrito in a tight compression bandage. The rat died after fluid accumulated in the lungs due to constriction. These vets are DANGEROUS to our rats when they think they know it all but are clueless to say the least.