Abscess on rats face

Question
Hi Sandra,

My rat is 2.5 years old and had a nasty ear infection. I got him antibiotics, but an abcess formed right next to his ear and the infection did not get better. I continued with treatment and the abcess only got larger. He is now bleeding out of his profusely. I go to an exotic vet clinic that specializes in small animals, birds, and reptiles. They have treated him before and hes been great. The vet said that his chance of surviving the surgery to remove the abcess was slim with his age, anesthesia, and the location of the abcess  taken into consideration. I'm struggling wtih putting him down, but its gotten very large and very painful and i dont want to put my senior rat through surgery if it is just going to kill him. What should i do?

Answer
It sounds to me like your rat has zymbals gland tumor, which is NOT an abscess, but a cancerous tumor that abscesses. Please refer to my site, sandyscrittercity.com and look at the page on this type of tumor that so many Vets misdiagnose.

http://www.sandyscrittercity.com/tumoronsideofface.htm


Let me know if this sounds like what your rat has. If so, I would question the vets experience with rats.  Many vets claim to see exotics but this in no way makes them exotic certified in that field.