Question
Penny 11/03/09
Hi Sandra! I am writing to you because I think you can help my little buddy. Penny is a black hooded female rat that I purchased as a baby from a PetCo (along with her cagemate, Lola) in July of last year, so I estimate her to be between 16 and 17 months of age. On Wednesday October 30th, I found a lump behind Penny's left forelimb about the size of grape. It kind of feels like a grape, too. I saw a picture of a rat named Jacky with a similar lump on your critter city website, so I figured Penny's lump was a mammary tumor and I was relieved to learn that it would require a simple, routine surgery to remove it. I was given the names of a couple of good Vets by Janell (since we live in the same city) and I took Penny to see Dr. Jenkins at Avian and Exotic here in San Diego. Although he was very knowledgeable on the subject, I left there feeling worse. The first thing he said was that I should wait a week to see if it grew, which would confirm that it was a tumor. He said that the lump could just stay like that or even shrink up and go away, which I had never heard of happening! If that was the case, he said, I could just choose to not to do the surgery. Dr. Jenkins also went on to say that if the lump got much bigger that it would cost even more to remove. He gave me an estimate on the cost of the surgery and I was shocked to see that it would cost $400-$475, on top of the $49 it cost me for the consultation. So my questions for you are: Is this a reasonable price? #I love my rats and want to do everything I can for Penny but that's a lot of money, and I know that this is an issue that will likely come up again.) Also, do you think it's really possible that the lump may stop growing or even shrink?
I was going to attach several pictures from different days, but I can't figure out how to include more than one so I just included the most recent picture. I can tell you that the lump doesn't seem to have grown much in about a week and although Penny is a little on the small side (and always has been), she is just as active and as happy as if it wasn't even there.
Thank you so much for your help, Sandra.
AnswerThis is outrageous in price, the highest I have seen in a long time.
I disagree with the vet. He should know right off if its a tumor or an abscess or cyst so this shows me that his lack of education is soemting to be leary of. I would seek advice from another vet. If you want I can give you names. Are you close to Westminster Ca?
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