possible lung tumor - urgent

Question
QUESTION: I took my pet female rat to the vet today because I noticed she was breathing rapidly (her sides were going in and out quickly, but no noise) and she seemed less energetic than usual. When they weighed her at the vet we also realized she was down to .6lbs, when she was .8lbs 10 days earlier.
She is on day 9 of dexamethasone for an inner ear infection that caused head tilt.  She finished a broad-spectrum antibiotic on Tuesday as well for the same.  The vet said her lungs sounded clear, but that she was obviously having trouble breathing because of the panting/rapid breathing.  She recommended a chest xray, which we did right away.  The xray showed a mass about the size of the end of a pencil eraser in her right lung.  The vet some it could be a lung tumor or maybe an abcess from an infection.  She recommended putting Shiloh on doxycycline and baytril (in case it's infection), and to try to syringe feed her some high calorie foods. I've tried tonight to syringe feed her some AD and some yogurt, but she didn't want much to do with it.  She won't even come to the side of the cage for a treat like she has always done. The vet said if it's a lung tumor she probably won't live much longer.  Do you have any experience with this?  I'm afraid she's going to die before the weekend is over.  It's breaking my heart.

ANSWER: Is she on albuterol?  This would really help open her airways and help her breathing.

However, sometimes the heart can be the problem and it mimics lung problems including tumors or abscesses of the lungs.

I am not sure how experienced your vet is with rats or if the clinic has the proper implements for small mammals, but it would be a good idea she was put in the hospital and put on oxygen and treated with a nebulizer with gentocin or another very aggressive antibiotic. Nebulizing will get the medication into the lungs faster and baytril can be used in case it is myco since few drugs kill myco due to the fact the organism lacks a cell wall.
I am also sorry for the delay responding.  We lost power for a day due to storms (I live in the south!) and cable was out too. All I thought about was the people needing help with their rats and I even told Time Warner Cable they were causing more trouble than they realized!!!!!

Please let me know if the Vet mentioned possible heart disease. Again, they often go hand in hand and it can mock lung disease easily. Often it is not seen in xrays either. CAT scans are much better for these cases.



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

QUESTION: I'm very sad to say that my sweet Shiloh died today at 2:10pm.  She went downhill very fast.  I held her as much as I could - I am so sad for her loss.  The vet never mentioned heart disease, she indicated that she thought it was most likely cancer because of the weight loss and the mass on the xray.  She also had a suspected tumor way down in her ear canal that was discovered when she was being treated for the head tilt.  This all seemed like such a sudden onset unless Shiloh was just hiding it well.  Thank you for your response.  I have two young ratties still here (Pretty and Alexis) and it will be nice to have a good resource like this.  I wish I had discovered it earlier.

Answer
Oh no....I am so sorry :(

So many things go wrong with our rats and sometimes it is just so out of the blue we dont have time to even think straight. I have had rats act fine one minute and find them hours later, laying on their side, twitching and having seizures and brain dead from a brain aneurysm. It can be so violent at times with these rats, and heart breaking.

Even if your little Shiloh was treated aggressively as I suggested, if it was indeed a tumor in her lungs, not much could be done other than making her comfortable.

As for it being sudden onset...chances are that Shiloh hid it well. I am sure you know that rats are famous for that.
As for the weight loss, this can also occur with heart disease and kidney disease too as well as lung problems. Sometimes an enlarged heart can also appear to involve the lungs which is why I suggested a CAT scan but that can be costly and not all vets have the machine.
It doesnt matter now anyhow since she is now in a better place.
Any time you need any support with rat care please keep me in mind. I am here all the time unless something random happens.

I hope your heart heals fast and again, I am sorry for your loss!