lump near my rats eye

Question
QUESTION: Dear Sandra,

My rat developed a lump under her eye about a week ago. We took her to the vet and she ruled out infection. She says its possibly a mammary tumor. The doctor gave her a shot of cortisone. My rat does not seem to be in any pain and eating normally and very active. The doctor doesn't want to remove the lump because it is too close to the eye. Have you ever seen anything similar to this? I love my rat so any suggestions as to what to do next would be greatly appreciated. My rat is a female probably about 2 years old.

Thanks,
Nicole

ANSWER:
Hi Nicole

I am a bit confused about what your vet said about this lump being a mammary tumor.  The problem with that is there is no mammary tissue on the face or near the eye. Mammary tissue is directly related to mammary glands. Rats have an extensive path of mammary tissue which runs from the rats shoulder and chin area all the way down to the base of the tail. Most tumors are found within this area of mammary tisse. They are found under the armpits sometimes extending up to the shoulder or down toward the abdomen. They are also found on the rats chest, belly, under the thighs, even in the groin area.  Never are they found on the face or head.

There is no mammary tissue there.  

If this was not a bit of a miscommunication with the vet and she believes this could be a mammary tumor, I think it would be a good idea, especially for the rats over all safety, to find a new vet. Is she an exotic vet, btw?

If it is a mass of some sort it can be removed without involving the eye.  It may be a simple abscess.  Can you tell me if it has a scab on it or a crater, pit or any type of hole? Any discharge from it? Any odor?  How long has she had it and how fast did it grow? Did it seem to appear overnight?  Is it hard or soft and kind of mushy?







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

QUESTION: Dear Sandra,

Thank you for your response.  I apologize for not responding earlier, but the message somehow ended up in my junk email folder.

The vet we went to is not an exotic vet.  She has had very few cases involving rats.  There is another vet near us that has more experience with rats, but at them time he wasn't available and he will not be in until Monday.

I believe it was sometime last week when we first noticed a tiny spot under her eye where the fur was no longer there, and it grew rather quickly.  As of now the lump seems to have gotten worse and she can barely open her eye.  Other than this she is still acting normal and eating well.  

I believe the vet said that it could be a tumor, but she hasn't ever seen one on the face like that.  She then thought it could be some kind of abscess caused by a tooth. (?)  She used a needle to get a sample from the lump to examine under a microscope to rule out infection.  After examining the slide, she said there was no sign of infection.

On the day we took her to the vet and they used a needle to take the sample, it looked like only a little blood came out of the lump on her face.  However, today when I looked at the lump it seems that there is some yellowy puss around her eye, though little.  The lump is under her eye, and it seems that this pussy substance is coming from underneath the lump and into her eye.  Could this puss mean infection?

I think it has been over a week and a half now since the lump started to develop.  

Answer
Pus is infection.  That is what pus is.

Where are you located?    

I would like to see if I can find a real exotic vet for you. This is something that needs looked into by a board certified exotic vet or it could get out of hand and claim your ratties life.