Hi, I think my rattie has an abcess?

Question
Hi, Ms. Todd, you have assisted me before in ratlet matters and I think perhaps you can help me again. My two and a half month old rat, Sexy Lexi, sprouted a lump under her chin/near her throat 2 nights ago. It literally was not there the the day before. The first day it had no special characteristics, but now it has 3 blackhead like dots on it. The dots protrude a teensy bit from the skin. It's not attached to any underlying tissue, I can pull it away from the skin without causing her discomfort and it feels squooshy inside. Unfortunately, Sexy Lexi is VERY squirmy. Is there anything outside of the vet's that I can do for her? If it becomes worse, or is very serious, I will take her to the vet, but I'm wondering if there's anything I can do about it myself? And do you have any tips on how to hold her still? She's not a biter, but she has superpowers that make her very slippery to the human hands if the hands want her to do something she doesn't want to do. Thank you so much. PS- The lump is about half the size of a dime.

Answer

Hi Natalie

It sounds like an abscess but its hard to be sure. Can you take a photo and attach it here on your follow up?  

I think the black dots you see are scabs, and if you can remove the, you will get a good amount of pus out of the abscess.   
She should not need a vet if this is an abscess but we need to know so I can tell you how to proceed with treatment.  

You can read a bit more about how to treat an abscess on my critter city site. Here is the URL to the page about abscesses:

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