Flesh-coloured bump above left eye

Question
QUESTION: Hi. I was just tending to one of my ratties and noticed he had a small swelling above his left eye. It looks as if there's not as much hair there, but no redness or anything. I'm fairly sure it wasn't there before. Some times depending on the light I think the area around his eyes look weird but it turns out to be nothing. This time it kinda has me worried since it's an obvious swelling there. I'm hoping he just bumped into something. I have another rat but they're in separate cages near each other since the other bites and they never got along. Just wondering if this is something I should be worried about and is there anything to look for that would show signs of something serious. It's the same colour as his skin. He seems slightly more lazy but I think that's just because I always happen to show up when he's sleeping (he's always been pretty lazy but those little wake-up stretches are so adorable). He has all the right things in his cage (no pine, etc). The only problems I've had prior were a cold when I bought him (they fixed him up at the store) and itching (he got a shot and put on meds for a while to make sure he didn't have bugs). Any advice?

ANSWER: Hmmm...its pretty hard to tell without seeing a photo and I am unable to really get a visual in my head, try as I might.

It may be the start of an abscess, can you tell me what it looks like now as of this writing? A scab on it, a crater in the center of it, has it grown bigger?
I am wondering if this is raised or flat?    Please let me know so I can get a better visual in my head.

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QUESTION: Hi, Sandra. Well, it's been a few days and it doesn't seem to be affecting him any (he seemed lazy but that was just because it was daytime and he's sleepy then; at night he comes out and plays, eats, drinks, etc). It's on his eyelid but isn't affecting his sight. I suppose it's about 1/3 the size of a pea. Little pink bump. I don't see any marks on it, though. His front nails have never been trimmed (I can barely get his back ones trimmed on a good day) so I thought maybe he scratched that spot while grooming.

Called the vet on Friday and she said it could be a pimple (which will eventually pop), an ingrown hair or a cyst and to keep an eye on it and call next (this) week if it gets bigger or something. She said I could put some cream on it but he'd probably just groom it off. I put a little bit of Polysporin on it (and freaked since the label says to call the poison place if ingested, but I hope that means if you eat the whole tube). TRIED to put a warm cloth on it, but you know how that goes. :-)

He still grooms and boggles so I guess it isn't hurting him or he wouldn't be doing all of that. I wish I could get a pic but I don't have a camera good enough to do it. It's slightly bigger (unless I'm imagining it in my worried state) that the first day I noticed, but seems stable now. It's not really long-shaped, but more round. Tried finding a similar pic on Google (some of those are so bad, poor things!) but nothing came close. Best I can say is it kinda looks like a red pimple without any centre "hole" or marking. If it is an abscess, would it have gotten much bigger by now (it's been about 4 days at least)? I don't really wanna take him to the vet and have them say they can't tell yet, but I also don't wanna wait until it's extremely bad. What's the warning sign that you should go to the vet ASAP?

I know this isn't gonna help at all (I did it in MsPaint, lol) but here's a "pic" showing where it is and the approx. size (enlarged, of course) with eyelashes (?) in place:

http://i37.tinypic.com/aoweti.jpg

Little bit of swelling around the actual "dot." Pink (not bright red).

ANSWER: I loved the illustration.....really, it helped me alot.  I do think its a tiny abscess and it may have even burst open by now.  I have had the flu and have gotten so behind  answering questions, but did want to touch base with you and see how things were going.  Please let me know.

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QUESTION: Flu here, too. Hope you're feeling better by now!

It hasn't burst, yet. Still looks about the same, maybe a bit more red and the slightest big bigger (but then again that could be me being paranoid).

If it should burst while he's home, what would I do? I read about the saline solution, etc for cleaning out an abscess but since this one is above his eye, I'm afraid of getting the bacteria AND saline solution IN his eye. Is there any trick to doing it properly?

Answer
The saline wont hurt his eyes. Basically that is what contact lens solution is made from.
More than likely he will close his eye when he feels any wetness near it.  It may or may not be an abscess though since I cannot really see what is inside it. I was sitting here thinking it may be a cyst, too.  Try holding a warm damp cloth on it to see if that either helps the swelling or brings it to a head.  Let me know.