Lump on my older rat.

Question
Hey. I have a rat who is about 3 or 4 years old now, she is an albino female rat. I've noticed a lump growing right near her arm pit area. It's very squishy and soft, and about an inch in length. About a year ago, her mother had a small lump growing on her face, much smaller than this, and I drained it with a sterile needle. After it drained, she was just fine. She was also rather old, and has since passed from old age. I'm not sure if draining it will be the same, since it's bigger and in a different area. What should I do?

Answer
I wouldnt try to drain it. Give it time to see what it does on its own. I is unfortunately in the right place where mammary tissue is located so its more than likely a mammary tumor.  Lumps on the face etc...are more than likely to be an abscess, like your other rat had, but the arm pit area is for sure mammary tissue.  What to do is see if it pops on its own. It may form a scab or crater and this will let you know if its an abscess but do not try to pop it because if its a tumor you can really hurt her. The tumor can abscess internally and poison her blood causing death from sepsis.

Is she intact or spayed?

If it is a tumor, you will have to decide if you want to have it removed surgically or not. DO NOT let age stop you. If she is healthy and you have a good exotic vet, she will have a great chance at recovering, but she is pretty old and she may not even by alive by the time the tumor takes a toll on her health which may be another 6 months from now.

Me, I probably would remove it because I have had surgery on my 3.5 year old rats before and they did great and lived to be 4 years old, but again, it depends on alot of factors.

Do you have a good vet?

CHeck out my site on mammary tumors to learn more about them and what to expect if you decide to leave it there.  THere is no need to put her to sleep if you decide to let it remain until she has no more spark in her and rats usually do good with these things, we are the ones that have the problem with them most of the time.

Any how here is the URL and let me know what you think after reading it:

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