cyst

Question
i gave my hairless rat a bath last week and i went to give her another one today and i noticed a hard cyst on her lower abdomin in the middle is a large sore that has turned into a scab io havent seen her scratching at it or even acknowledging that its there b ut im worried. what could it be?

Answer
I'm guessing its an abcess. An abcess is a localized collection of pus surrounded by inflamed tissue, usually caused by a bite, scratch, nick, etc. that wound up getting infected. They can be easily taken care of by a vet, who will lance ('pop') the abcess, drain it, clean it out and if its large enough probably pack it with some sterile strips. He's also probably put her on antibotics to kill the nasties in there.

Best of luck.