very ill rat

Question
Hi,

Ive got a 2.5 year old lovely rat, ince. 6 months ago i discovered a tumour around her breast area, which has grown quite large.  my main concern is that she is extremely thin, i can feel every bone in her body. she's still eating and drinking ok.  she has blood in her pee (since the tumour came about, vet gave medicine but she got too distressed taking it so i left it), and she's very wobbly on her feet.  she has done very well so far, considering her age and tumour. i really wanted to know:

a) what i could feed her to bulk her up
b) when dooes one decide enough is enough. she's such a fighter, but i dont want her to suffer.

Thanks, i look forward to your response.

Answer
Hi Laura


First off, I am really sorry to hear that the vet thinks of age as a disease more than a number.  If your rat was otherwise healthy before the tumor started to ravage her body, being her age (at the time of discovery she was only 2 years old as per your message)This is no more risky than doing surgery on a younger rat. We do surgery on rats older than yours, including my rat that was over 3 when we removed 2 huge tumors from her and she lived to be nearly 4 years old.
If your interested in another vet, I will happily find one for you that cares for rats. At this point, even if she doesn't survive surgery, the tumor is taking its toll on her and will result in her passing so you really have nothing to lose either way. If the vet is a skilled surgeon with small animals, she should fare very well and recover with little incident.

Sorry to sound so blunt but that really is a pet peeve with me that a vet cops out on surgery saying a 2 year old rat is "too old" for surgery  and of course, the client only wants what is best for their rat and listens to the vet so its not your fault that you want your little girl to be ok of course and at that time you did not want to lose her and already she has lived for 6 months with the tumor so I can see your reason for following the vets orders.

Anyhow, as for the condition of your rat now:

The tumor has now, at this point, become very vascular and is robbing your rats body of nutrients that she needs to keep her vital organs healthy.  NO matter how much she eats, she is starving slowly as you can tell with her weight loss. Usually a rat with a large mammary tumor will continue to eat, sometimes with a ravenous appetite, because the tumor is taking her food from her so she is always feeling hungry. You can try to offer her higher protein foods, scrambled eggs, soft chicken, baby foods and also ice cream (at this point, the sugar wont hurt her) also if you can get her to lick nutrical, this is packed with vitamins and minerals. Boost and ensure are also good to let her lick from a dish, again, loaded with vitamins.  I cannot promise this will help her gain any weight though, not as long as that tumor is robbing her body like it is.
She probably has a urinary tract infection which is causing her to have hematuria  (red blood cells in her urine) You can get her to take her medicine by mixing it in ice cream or yogurt or anything that may appeal to her at this point.

As for knowing when enough is enough?  I am one to let them live till they are tired of the fight but of course, without suffering. Rats are tough, male or female, and have a strong will to survive. Taking it from them too soon is taking away what rats are all about. If she stops eating, starts to breathe hard, shows no interest in much of anything, loses her mobility and starts to urinate on herself because she is too weak to get up and walk elsewhere to urinate, and of course, if she loses that spark in her eyes...you know the spark I speak of...everyone that has ever loved a rat knows what I mean (this is the part that makes me cry even while I type this to you) when your little girl has lost her spark in her eyes, the spark that you fell in love with 2.5 years ago...you know its time to do her one last favor and that is to put her out of misery before she truly is miserable. Often I am too late and my rats pass on their own, but I have also had to make that call myself and I hate to do it, but we don't want them to suffer...they are too strong and too tough to suffer and I have had stubborn rats hang on even while they were having seizures and strokes and I had to race to the vet at 4am to have them put down because they wanted to be held all night and not let go. Its hard to tell you how you will know and if I tell you that you will know on your own, I cant really explain it, but you will know and she will tell you. This is something only you and your rat can share and nobody else can tell you but your own heart.