Caddia Has a Lump

Question
QUESTION: Hello I have three pet Rats two small breed Fee-fee(black and white), Caddia (lt. brownish grayish), and one large breed white male rat. I had them together , then i separated the large male from the two females.

I separated them b/c the male seemed to keep jumping on them ever 2 minutes and trying to rape them. Lg boy rat isnt as big as one i had before he's more medium to me.

my husband got a huge new gage and put them back together. My Caddi has a lump that was smaller between her valva and butt.  At first I thought we messed the sex up and it was the testicle dropping since my male still only has one dropped. About two weeks later i really was looking at her close and she's not a boy she for sure is a female she has nipples and      female parts. The lump has now gotten hard and larger her vagina would be under the middle of the lump, valva at top of lump, and anus at bottom of lump.

I am wondering what it could be..is there anything over the counter i could buy her. Is it possible the large male rat got her pregnant in her tubes or something it was softer felt like a testicle at first now it seems harder like it ran out of place to grow (i know a tumor will stretch the skin to grow). its in such a weird place i talked to my vet and he doesn't handle rats but he is the vet for all my Yorkies. I just had two of my Yorkies one with a c-section and the other had an operation I really can't afford a vet specialist but i do love my little Caddia age wise she is about one 1/2 years old now. Also do you know in general how long their life span is on both large and small rats. She doesn't act to be in pain and she runs all around however if I don't want her to die in pain or suffer. If something serious i think my vet would at least put her to sleep for me even tho he doesn't handle them.

please help me...if infection i do still have liq antibiotics that are my dogs do you think a little may help her...i am trying anything to help her..in normal situation i wouldn't suggest another pets medication. We lost one rat when before we got her...my daughter will be home from vacation soon and she'll be heartbroken.... thank you so very much...o i forgot her lump is the size of a peanut shell



ANSWER: It could be an abscess or a tumor or infection. She needs examined in order to be able to properly diagnose her.

No over the counter medications will help and no, you cannot give them the medicine you have for your dog.

Can I ask why your allowing the male to be with the females and possibly mate with them?  A rat her age is too old to have babies and if she has problems, this spells disaster.  You are allowing more babies to be bred and cannot take the rat you have now for proper treatment by a qualified vet, so I am a bit confused as to why you would allow them together and possibly mate?  Female rats go in heat every 5 days and both male and female rats are sexually active as young as 5 weeks old. A female rat can have up to 18 babies. Finding good homes for them is hard and half the time they end up as snake food. Also, serious complications can arise if a pregnancy goes bad and the rat may need an emergency cesearan section or she could die. All of this is something that can happen and it would be a very terrible thing to see occur when it can easily be prevented by not allowing the male with the female.

A rat that is healthy and fed the proper diet low protein and low in fats (not the seed mixes the pet stores sell that contribute to obesity, cancer and kidney disease)and kept in a spacious clean cage (not a glass tank) on litter that is not made of pine, cedar or corn cob, can live between 3 and 3.5 years, sometimes longer.

A vet that is not up to par with rats may not even know the proper protocol to put a rat to sleep. There is a special way to do that as well.
I would see if there is a way you can take your rat to a vet that cares for rats and discuss a payment plan.  If it is a tumor, it could be removed easily and she could live on much longer. If it is infection and this is a proplapsed uterus, proper medications will clear it up. An abscess can also be treated easily.  There is no need to put her to sleep when she can be treated. A vet that sees rats is no more expensive than a regular vet that treats only dogs and cats.


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

QUESTION: Thank you very much for writing back. You asked me why would I allow my female rats with my male rate. Ok first of all I only had one originally. He passed away. Someone gave my daughter two females. Well my boyfriend went to a store an saw one that looked like are old one thinking it would be cute to bring home. no new rat could replace the one we lost. I was totally against rats until i too fell in love with the first one. they did have two separate homes however the new one is not the same type he's a large rat. The females are small rats. We were told they couldn't well wouldn't be able to mate. Thats what the pet store told my boyfriend when he bought it. I kept them separate due to male and female. The one housing is huge it could easily handle 4 large rabbits. They aren't in a small glass aquarium or laying in anything that could harm them. i don't give them that stupid seed stuff they try selling you at pet stores. I give them lots or fresh fruit, fresh veggies, etc.  They have a pretty large menu. I do however buy those things to help there teeth not over grow. I trim there nails and bath them regular three times a week. I looked for a vet i could take caddia to but there is no vet around to handle rats period. My vet couldn't even find one. Unfortunately the seem to look down on anyone owning rats where i live or to care for them. Sad as it seems it is real. The people here are way too uppity and rats are only considered food for other pets here. the first rat my daughter brought home was she saved it from being snake food. She cried and they gave it to her. So ow wow someone was nice enough to find two vets for me it will be a pretty long drive but not too bad. I am going to call first thing in the morning i just got the message. they apparently have a web site i am thinking of sending a picture and add a video before hand they said we are allowed to leave a message and symptoms. Plus if operation needed it would only be 200.00 for everything. Now I am very familiar with dogs the rats well my children brought them home. I am by far a rat expert they are pretty pampered rats and do live in extreamly clean and nice living situation. I could only imagine if i told my boyfriend i needed 1,200 to get the kids rats operated on because thats how much it cost for anything starting on the breed dogs i have and they almost always need a c-section. He doesn't look at rats the same way i love most all living things. since feb 2008 i have spent almost well most likely more then 5,000 on my dogs with vet bills and specialists. I raise and Breed Yorkshire Terriers (Yorkies). I myself use to have big dogs my mom got me into Yorkies and they are very expensive to care for properly. So I can understand your comment on why breed the rats if i couldn't care for them and you are 100% correct! Same thing I say if someone argues or thinks it's incorrect the amount I sell my puppies for and on top of that must be approved homes I don't care how much or if they pay double none of my puppies will be adopted out to homes I don't agree with. Truthfully I let the kids talk me into the rats and i don't know much about them. I have read somethings to give them proper home and food but told the kids they must care for them if they want them. I under estimated care they would or could need. So thank you for your answer. they actually should have more people like yourself even where they sell them they also should be more educated on animals they sell to properly educate people whom want to buy them and not treat or under estimate little guys just because they are less then ten dollars to buy one. All though I will care for Caddia i would have never allowed them to get a pet that could make those kind of vet bills and i think its wrong for people who sell them not to tell people. They act like ow basic like buying a fish keep water clean, feed well and thats all. Thank you very much!

Answer
Hi again and thanks for writing back


How long have the males and females been together?  That pet store...they need to read up on rat care. Female rats get pregnant as young as 5 weeks by males as young as 5 weeks and the first 24 after they have their litter, they can get pregnant again. Not real healthy for the poor rats, but unfortunately, that is how it happens sometimes.

Also a rat should be bred by the time she is a year old or it could be bad news too. Just so you know that one rat can have alot of babies and if two rats are with the male and he is mr Stud muffin himself, you can end up with 40 babies on your hands and if people around you look down on rats, you may be stuck with those rats if you cant find good homes.

But your right, pet stores....some, not all, just sell them to sell them and push the crappy seed mixes like you said, which are for BIRDS, not rats, and pine or cedar or corn cob bedding.....all three of those litters need taken off the market fast. Cedar and pine contain phenol oils that are deadly to rats and corn cob litter grows fungus and yeast and moldy toxins are let off when the rat urine sits more than 24 hours. THey fail to tell you this. They also think if the rats are small they cant get pregnant. Big mistake. Huge mistake. They also dont push cages on the rat owner and tell them glass tanks are ok when in reality, they are terrible for rats because of poor circulation.

If you want more info on rat care, check out my website.


Also, if you want me to check the vet your going to see for their credentials, I would be happy to look into that too so your not wasting time and money.

As for yorkies, I would LOVE to have one...the tiny ones..rat sized !  WHat are they called?  Teacup yorkies or am I nuts? Is there such a thing as a teacup yorkie?