Mammary Tumor on pet Rat

Question
I had a question about mammary tumors. I got my female rat, Jolie in February of 2007. When I got her she had to have been about a year old if not a few months short if it. In my estimation that would make her around 3 years old. About a week ago I noticed a lump the size of the pit of a peach under her left armpit...after doing extensive research I was certain is was a mammary tumor. I took her to an exotic animal vet who is very good with rats and he took a sample of the tumor to look under a microscope. The cells that we could see were rather dark and large and irregular in shape(I have a picture of the slide at home and can send it to you if you'd like to take a look at the cells). He indicated that it was probably cancerous and that at her age it would be almost pointless to remove, as she could either die form the surgery or another one could just pop up anyway. I opted to not have it removed and asked the vet is there was anything I could give her (medicine wise) to help slow the tumors growth. He gave me a kind of anti-swelling medication often used to osteoporosis in cats and dogs. I've been giving it to her daily and the tumor does not seem to be growing. Shes just as livly as ever, except she runs less of her wheel probably because the tumor gets in the way. I was just wondering if my vets diagnosis sounded accurate and how long could she expect to live. I know that when her quality of life starts becoming obsolete I will have to put her down as I DO NOT want her to suffer.
Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated!!!
Thanks,
Cristina Antonell

Answer

Please read my website about mammary tumors.  I think you may find it a bit interesting.

http://www.freewebs.com/crittercity/allabouttumors.htm



There are indeed two drugs that can be used to stop the growth of mammary tumors.  Cancerous or non cancerous. They are both hormones that stop the production of estrogen which is what fuels the growth of these tumors to start with.  Its not common that they are cancerous, though. My next question is this: The vet you saw, was this a true exotic vet which would be a board certified avian/exotic vet (there are 130 of them in the world) or a vet that sees exotics but is also a dog and cat vet as well?  Not that it makes any difference at all but I like to keep track of how many people have access to actual avian/exotic vets or just general vets that have a special interest in exotics (and can be just fine for them too of course)

Reason I ask is because the vet knew nothing about trying the two medications I discuss on my website and are used by many certified exotic vets.

I do agree with your vet that she is a bit on the old side to remove the tumor and if she is lively, let her be.  I had a rat that I adored, my Holly girl, who was a wild r at that I saved. She had several surgeris to remove tumors *they do grow back, sadly* so finally when she was a bit over 2.5 I did not want to put her through more surgeries so I let her alone.  The tumor took over by the time she was 3 the tumor was huge and she could not walk good, but she still had all of the love and life in her that made her special.  I could not put her down but knew it was the only fair thing to do.  My vet felt bad doing it too and so he said he wanted to try the   surgery. If she didnt make it, I was going to let her go anyhow...so with less than a 5% chance to live due to her fragile state plus her age, she went to surgery and I thought that was it for her.  90 minutes later, which by the way is an absolutely insane amount of time to have a small rodent under anesthesia, she was alive and awake looking for food.  I could not believe it.  She made it both to my surprise and the vets surprise too.  

She lived to be a few months from turning 4 years old. I do not regret any of it, but her story is not always a happy ending.  Sometimes a totally healthy elderly rat  is put under and they have complications with the anesthesia and die from heart attack of respiratory arrest.

Also, you will have many months with her anyhow and chances are, sad to say, the tumor may outlive her, if that makes sense.  

Can you send me her photo and also a photo of the slides? I would like to ask permission to use these as an example of what cancer cells look like from a possible malignant mammary tumor and post it on my website. Email at Sandyscrittercity@yahoo.com if you wanted to upload the photos. I would be so grateful if you would.