Cancerous Tumor and spreading of it

Question
My female rat grew 2 large mammory tumors, then she got a marble sized one on her spine. It then had what looked like a greenish colored scab on it. My husband freaked out and said it was cancer and could spread to humans and we had to uthenize her right away. I am so sad. But now I am scared for my children, I really have not had them handle her since her tumors, but I am still worried , has there been any research that says cancer cells on a rat could be transferred to humans? thanks
Jen

Answer
I have some bad news.  Your rat had an abscess, not a tumor. An abscess on her spine is nothing more than a large pimple. The green scab was simply pus you were seeing.

I am at a loss for words at this point. Rats get such reputations and this fear has obviously spilled over to your husband and caused him to be a bit more overly concerned for no good reason.

For starters, cancer in rats in not common unless they are given the cancer on purpose in labs. Obviously you did not have lab rats for pets.

The mammary tumors your girl had were fueled by estrogen and they are not cancerous.  Second, you should know better by now that cancer, no matter what species it is, is NOT contagious.  

Did you not seek medical attention for this animal?

All the rat needed to get better was to have the tumors removed by the vet and the abscess on her spine cleaned up and she could be alive today.

Your rat died for no reason other than fear of the unknown.

Your children and your family were in no danger of catching anything from that rat and now she is dead because of lack of education on the matter.   I am sorry for the rat that she had to die for this.

Check out more about mammary tumors here and you will see how badly her condition was misunderstood.

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