Abscess or Tumor? What do I do?

Question
QUESTION: Hi,

I have a female rat that I've owned for several months now, after about 2 months she developed a small soft bump behind her front left leg. I'm still trying to decide whether it is an abscess or tumor though I'm leaning towards abscess because it just showed up over night.
We thought we'd just leave it seeing as one it would cost too much for us to take her to the vet just for them to tell us what it was and two it didn't seem to be bothering her.
Now it's be another few months and it is much much bigger. About the size of one and half golf balls and it seems to be growing smaller bumps on it. They are hard but don't seem to be attached to her body, just kind of off to the side.
The problem is is my parents won't take her to the vet because of the cost and I don't know what to do. I'm afraid to let it just keep getting bigger because I'm pretty sure she will die and I don't want my other rat to be alone. (my parents won't let me get another one either =[ )
I'm just not sure what to do about it.

~Rachel

ANSWER: Firat thing, Rachel, how old is she?

Is there a scab on it anywhere?  

If it were an abscess, it would have or at least should have popped by now. Try to hold a warm compress on it for as long as she lets you and see if it gets softer. Let me know about her age.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I've been thinking that since my parents won't take her to the vet I'm going to have to come up with some money and take her because I know that not doing that will probably just make things worse and I care about her. But I don't want to take her and them tell me they can't do anything about it. I actually had a rat have an abcsess before and I took her to the vet, they took a sample and that was it. They couldn't do anything more for her, so I'm not sure what to think.

ANSWER: THis is what I think.....


Can you take pictures, as clear as you can?  Also, if it was an abscess it would not still be here.  An abscess is bacteria pocket formed under the skin and once it gets to a certain point, it pops open. This has not done that and it has been a few months. I want you to try to get it to soften up using warmth such as a wet warm rag or take some rice, put it in a sock and heat in microwave for a few seconds. Try to hold it on there as long as you can.  See if it gets smooshy. Take your fingers and go under the lump and gently press to see if anything forms a head. Do this for a few days.

She is pretty young for mammary tumors but its not impossible. The vet could remove it for you and even spay her so no new ones grow but I am afraid that would cost more than you can save and if it is a tumor it needs to be removed soon.  You can hold off on the spay but the tumor surgery needs to be done soon before it starts to really get vascular and she loses weight. If you read on my site about the tumors you probably read what can happen if they are not removed.

I admire that you want to help her and I have a feeling if the vet knows it is YOUR money paying for this they would really cut you a deal. You need a good vet that is good with rat surgery.  I am wondering if the other vet did not help your rat because they didnt know what else to do.

Do you remember the vet you saw? I can check to see if they are exotic vets etc...for you and I can help you find one that may help you.
Talk to your parents. Let them know she is young enough that she would do well with surgery and this should be resolved with no problems

Lets try the warm compress first and see if it pops. Maybe it is an abscess. I have my doubts but we can find out first and decide what to do next.



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Here's a picture, I hope it's clear enough.
http://i35.tinypic.com/iwlro6.jpg

The vet that I went to before was in Australia, so I don't think that would help much.
I will try the warm compress though like you said it probably is not an abscess.
I live in Lancaster PA now and there is a vet that supposedly works with exotic pets but just the check up would be $47 is this normal?
Also my mother wanted me to let you know that she has the idea of using echanachea (spelling?) and goldenseal as it has been proven to help with cancer and breast tumors in humans...(though I don't know if it would work well for rats)
Thanks for your help so far.

Answer

Clear photo, thank you.  Its a mammary tumor, absolutely.

:::sighs:::

SHe is so young...it should be such an easy surgery. $47 is high but some vets charge that much for the first visit. I pay $29 for an exotic specialist.

Let mom know that those two herbs are used in rats to help the immune system, not for cancer. chances this is cancer is low anyhow. Usually they are benign.

What the vets do use instead of surgery are hormones. One is called tamoxifen, and it is used on humans for breast cancer. It can only be used to shrink cancerous mammary tumors and again, that is not real common in rats. A biopsy is done first to find out if its cancer. If it is not cancer, a different hormone, lupron,is given via injection once a month and it stops the production of estrogen and shrinks tumors that are not cancerous.  But to be honest, these treatments are used ONLY after the rat has had surgery and they keep coming back. It would cost the same to just have this thing removed.  She is just so young and that is the reason it is sad she would have to be put to sleep when this thing starts to ruin her quality of life.  Soon she wont be able to touch the floor with her feet because the tumor will lift her up too high and sometimes the tumor invades the muscle of the front paw and they cant move their front paw etc....all sorts of complications happen not to mention the tumor starts to steal the rats nutrients from her food and she will lose weight and her organs start to fail from slowly starving.  There is something called care credit that adults can apply for. Its a way to finance vet bills and make payments to the care credit company every month. It may be something your parents may want to check out.

Also, here are some vets in your area you can call around and ask about prices for tumor surgery. Maybe you can make a deal with your parents and let this tumor surgery be an early Christmas gift? Or perhaps offer to work off the bill by doing extra chores?  I am not sure how old you are but I do admire you for wanting to earn money to pay for this yourself.

Here are names of some vets that may help:

Dr. Bridget Fitzpatrick
Smoketown Veterinary Hospital    
251 Ranck Mill Road
 Lancaster PA 17602
Phone:    717-393-9074
Website: www.smoketownvet.com


Amanda J Rouen,DVM -
Exeter Veterinary Hospital  
(610) 779-2300 4955 Perkiomen Ave
Reading, PA