about Jenna!

Question
Recently, my mom discussed with you my rat, Jenna. She had an abcess which we recently discovered (with your help) had a tumor undeneith.  I just wanted to add how thankful I am for your help. I am currently at college and away from my little Jenna, and it means SO MUCH to me that you were able to help her out. I appreciate all of your time and effort! I love Jenna so much, she really is my life! so this means a lot to me.
I know your probably very busy helping out other little rats, so sorry for taking up your time!
Thanks again!

Answer
Hi Chelsea

Your very welcome. I am just happy that she was able to see another vet. I am just sad that she had a vet that was not as knowledgeable as he thought he was. These vets should stand back, swallow their pride and admit they are not really well versed on rat care and send them to someone that is. Instead, they see dollar signs and are too proud to admit they dont know what they are doing and this is the end result: A rat that did not have an abscess, but it was a tumor instead that had abscessed.  The sad part is, I was able to figure this out simply from your moms description of what has transpired over the past few months and once I saw the photo, I knew what it really was that Jenna had, and I did not even see her in person.  Even though I dont have a degree in Veterinary medicine under my belt, my focus is rat health care and nothing but rat health care so it was from my experience that I knew what Jenna had. The vet probably has not seen these mammary tumors abscess like this so he did not know how to approach it properly. This is why I warn people like a broken record sometimes about the difference between real exotic vets and vets that see exotics on the side but did not focus solely on exotics. Even an exotic vet may have little experience with rats and may have missed this too, which is where I come in.  Some vets resent me, others call me for advice on the side. Either way, I am happy to give my opinion and advice and always try to help the best I can.  If people want to take my advice, thats great, but they have the option of choosing to follow my advice or ignore it after writing to me. I am happy your Jenna went to the vet I suggested and now she will get better and not have the risk of that infection spreading to her blood stream.   Please keep me posted about her condition. I truly care about what happens to all the little rats and sometimes I never hear back from people again and often wonder how things worked out.

Good luck !