I found a small lump on my rats side.

Question
QUESTION: Three days ago I discovered a small lump on my rat (Frosty)'S side, kind of behind her front left leg. It isn't visible unless she is in a certain position, but I can definitely feel it. It's smaller than a blueberry I would guess, but I'm really worried. It hasn't really grown since I found it. I bought her from a pet store in February when she was about three months old, so she's only about a year right now. She's been healthy ever since.. except for this lump I recently found. She isn't spayed. I researched a lot about mammary tumors and abscesses/cysts, but I can't tell between the two because of how small it is. I found a little scab around that area, but since the ball in there moves around, the scab isn't right on top of it, just in the area. The ball is more squishy than hard if that means anything. I've been putting a hot wet wash cloth on it for about five minutes each day since I found it incase it is a cyst, but it hasn't seemed to be doing anything. I'm going out of town tomorrow and won't be home till Sunday because of Thanksgiving, so I won't be able to see Frosty till Sunday evening most likely, so I won't be able to take her to a vet till sometime next week. Plus I need to somehow come up with the money because my mom won't even consider taking her... do you have any idea how much an exam + surgery might be in the San Diego, California area? Also is there any other way I could figure out if it's either a cyst or a tumor? If it does get any bigger though, it will most likely get in the way of her walking. But she's so young I want to fix this... but I'm also scared she might not wake up from the anesthesia if it turns out it is a tumor and it needs to be cut off. I just don't know what to do. Any suggestions/opinions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much.

ANSWER: Prices vary from clinic to clinic so I am unable to really give you an estimate for services performed by other Vets.  It can be anywhere from $50 to $500 and thats no joke. I know one vet that charges just $50 to remove a tumor which is very very cheap and he does a great job too.

Do you have a vet? If not, let me know ....and also, how close are you to Westminster?

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: No, I do not have a vet. I was trying to look up vets that see small animals in San Diego but I only found one.. whom i'm going to be calling pretty soon.
And i'm not really sure where Westminster is..

Is there a difference I would see between an abscess and a tumor?

Answer
Check this link for vets that will see rats:

http://www.aemv.org/vetlist.cfm


Let me know what you come up with.  As for a difference between the two (abscess and tumor)there is a huge difference.  A tumor is a solid mass and an abscess is filled with pus due to infection. An abscess can burst and dry up and disappear, a tumor needs removed by a qualified Vet.