lump on my rat

Question
QUESTION: My rat Ivy has a lump on her side up near her arm. I know you say that i should see a vet but i dont know if i can do that. My rat is almost a year old and very energetic. My family plays with her all the time. She shares a cage with another rat and that rat doesnt have a lump. I dont know what to do. Im pretty young and dont have a lot of money and my parents probably cant pay for a vet visit. Can you tell me what i can do, or if i can do anything? Thanks,
Meagan

ANSWER: It may be a mammary tumor and if that is the case, she can survive with it for a while, but eventually it will claim her life.  Read my webpage about tumors here:

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


However, it may simply be an abscess. That would be better news. Did it just come up fast? Does it have fur over it? Is there an open sore on it or a scab?

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QUESTION: The lump did come up fast and it does have fur over it.And it doesnt have a sore or a scab on it. My parents say they wont take a rat to the vet so what should i do?

Answer
Sounds like a mammary tumor.  Without having a vet remove it, there is not much you can do but you do NOT have to put her to sleep so dont worry about that.  Have you looked over my website and the page about tumors?  It tells you what to expect if you do not have the tumor removed.

It will grow bigger and bigger but the good news is, it is not around her legs so it wont cause problems walking with her back legs.  She will lose weight as the tumor starts to feed off of her body. She will want to eat like crazy because of this so be sure you feed her as much as she wants. Keep a mix (homemade rat mix from my site, not the nasty seed mixes from pet stores) keep food for her all the time and also fresh water in the bottle too.   Just treat her normally and when it gets really big or starts to seem like she cannot walk because of it etc...write to me and I will tell you what to do next.  Really though, if she had this removed she could live to be 3 or even 4 years old.  Perhaps talk it over with mom and dad again, promise to do the dishes, mop the floors, cut the grass.....watch your baby brother or sister if you have one......whatever chores you can think of and maybe they will let it be a trade for the rats surgery.   

I know its out of your hands and I dont want to go against mom and dad but to be honest, I do think parents should always take into consideration that ALL ANIMALS need medical care when sick no matter if its a rat or a horse.  Owning a pet teaches responsibility and taking proper care of your pet and being a responsible pet owner means to give it the proper care it needs, even vet care when necessary. This is all a part of pet ownership.  I am sure if you were grown and had your own money you would do the right thing and take her for the tumor to be removed, but perhaps if you remind mom and dad this is part of pet ownership, they may decide to help out.  Money is hard to come by and I understand that, but many vets do too, and they are willing to work out payment plans, esp if a childs pet is involved.  See what mom and dad say but dont get yourself in trouble, either!  I would feel real bad if mom and dad punished you because of my advice.