My rat has a fast growing mamary tumor.

Question
I noticed my rat Donut had a tumor on the lower part of her belly about a week and a half or so ago and it was of a medium size and basicaly just showed up over night, since then it has grown to a really big size and covers the whole bottom half of her stomach. It has leaked fluid a fair bit and then that cleared up and she seemed fine and I just had a look at it and she's got dry blood crusted on it that she hasn't cleaned away because it's too big for her to even reach it. My friend who had a rat in the past with a mamary tumor said there is nothing I can do for her except maybe get a vet to take some of the fluid out of her tumor with a syringe, I have no clue what to do, so far she doesn't seem to have slowed down much, she seems a bit sleepier than she used to be but I would assume the tumor would be causing her alot of discomfort as she can't even lay down as she wants and has to hold her butt high up in the air to walk along. She's around 1 and a half years old. Could you please tell me what the best thing I can do for her is? I feel so bad for her and don't want her to live out the rest of her life in such discomfort.

Answer
Your friend is absolutely incorrect by saying nothing can be done for your rat.

She is still plenty young and  you can save her life by having this tumor removed. All you need is a vet that is qualified to treat rats to remove this tumor and I will give you some names of vets in your area to check out. Just let me know where your located.

Also, check out my website, sandyscrittercity.com and refer to the page on mammary tumors.

You will get to see for yourself other rats with tumors and see how there is a happy ending for them.  The other good news is that they are rarely cancerous!  As for your firend that had a rat with a tumor and nothing was done for it, please educate her and let her know that her rat didnt have to die because of the tumors. There is no reason for our rats to die from them since they are easily removed, esp if the rat is as young as your rat is!!