Female Rat Tumor

Question
I have a pet female rat who is about 18 months old. She recently developed a hard tumor on one of her mammary glands under her arm pit. After a few weeks this has now become a bit bigger, but I believe she has been chewing on it maybe because it is now open and bleeding and actually inverted in the middle of it. It is really gross to look at. I am concerned for my kids...I don't want them to contract any type of bacteria she might have and I don't want her to be suffering either. She seems to be fine. She still eats great and climbs around. Before I take her into a vet...Who by the way says it will be $375 to remove the tumor! I just want to see if the kids and her are okay with things the way they are right now. Thanks so much for the help!

Answer
Hi Kelli

Your children are absolutely fine. There is nothing they can catch from her at all. Common sense of course means washing your hands BEFORE handling her as the kids can actually carry some seriously nasty bacteria to her if she has an open wound like that. And of course, after handling her, wash hands again. This of course would apply to any pet or even if you were handling a human that had an open wound like that. Either way though its nothing to fear.

Lets talk about this lump though, for a minute. When you say inverted, is it literally sunken in leaving a crater?

This doesnt sound like a tumor. It sounds like an abscess and she has opened it up herself and is getting the pus out on her own. Is there an odor?  
What you can do is clean that area very well with either saline solution or even simply clean warm water. Apply a blob of neosporin and keep her busy for a few minutes till it absorbs. Give it a few days yet to see if it doesnt close up and heal before hitting the vets office.
Tumors dont usually go inverted like that, but abscesses will, once they burst.  Did this lump come on suddenly?

I may be able to save you $375 which is outrageous, btw.  

Let me know. Oh, and if you can get a photo of this mass, send it to sandyscrittercity@yahoo.com

Hope this helps!

Sandy