Male rat with tumor

Question
Hi, Sandra, just wanted to start by saying thank you for taking my question and for being such a wonderfully helpful person with problems such as mine.
My male rat, Angel, is an albino that is at least 2 and a half years old. He hasn't had a bath in at least a month, and today as soon as i put him in the tub and his fur got all flat, i noticed a growth on his right side. it is perfectly round and just a little bigger than my thumb nail. it is dark pink like his ears and fingers naturally are. It can be moved all around on his skin, and there is still fur on it. When i touch the mass, it almost feels as though there are a few small bumps inside it. there are no changes to the skin, but did notice what seems to be a capillary or small red vein running right thru the middle of the lump (the skin of the lump is very tight, so i think I would be able to tell if it were a small cut and not a vein). I also noticed while his fur was still wet from the bath that his skin has a dark orange scaly dirty look to it. NOT on the bump, but on his back and neck in other areas. It resembles the "flea dirt" that outside cats get when you know they have fleas, because it comes off easily, but its orange, not black. I suppose that could be just good old dandruff?
He is eating healthily, in fact, he used to be ok if i skipped a day in feeding but seems to get much more insistent when he hasn't eaten since the day before. I keep him in a 30 gallon glass tank with redwood sawdust and he eats typical grain/seed feed from the pet store. Actually, now that i think about it, the last time i bought feed for him it was the kind of bird feed that you get in bulk at discount stores - i was low on cash that day - but it still has cracked corn, sunflower seeds, and grains in it and he loves it too. He seems to be perfectly healthy otherwise and has never had any health issues.
He is the sweetest little guy, and i just don't want him to hurt at all. I also read that you might be able to help me find a specialist for him. I live in northwest Ohio and the closest larger cities to me are Findlay and Lima, Ohio. Thank you so much for your time!
Sheri

Answer
Hi Sheri

I am an Ohio native, moving here to North Carolina about ten years ago, right around the time I bought my son his first pair of rats which of course, ended up being MY rats....but thats another story!!  
On to the rat: It seems to me your little man has a mammary tumor, believe it or not. It is not unheard of (I see it often) because males still have mammary glands despite the lack of nipples. I would suggest it was an abscess but usually they are not vascular and you noticed possibly a vein...and they also usually are more fixed and attached unlike what you described this to be pretty free moving, also a sign of a tumor, usually benign so dont worry. Even if it were to be cancerous, they are almost always encapsulated and do not spread.
Since he has such a good record of health, I would not hesitate to have it removed but do it as soon as possible before it gets bigger and  more vascular, making surgery more risky removing it due to the fact it will become more vascular with its own blood supply, feeding off of blood vessles which can be risky during surgery. However, a skilled surgeon that takes care of rats should be the one doing the surgery and since these tumors are almost always subcutaneous, they literally peel off leaving very little invasion of the body and the stitches are more or less superficial. Its all pretty simple, really, as long as you dont wait for problems to occur like for example,once this tumor becomes vascular it will begin to rob the body of all the nutrients your rat is getting, depleting the rats body of the nutrients he needs to sustain his vital organs properly and keep them functioning healthy. I guess I am answering your questions before you ask them such as "how long can I wait" and "what can occur if I let it go to long"

Also, dont let any vet tell you that Angel is too old for surgery! Age is nothing more than a number, not a disease! He has a clean bill of health up until now and there is no reason to allow this tumor to end his life sooner than he is ready! I have had rats live to be close to 4 years old and have had clients come in with rats close to that age as well.  We all know rats dont live half as long as we would like, but if this tumor remains, he will go downhill pretty fast and within a few months he will have very little quality of life. If it is removed, he may live another year,or more, but its worth a shot!  I cannot tell you what to do, of course, but can lay in front of you the options you have, which I have done.
Now I will shut up about the tumor and move on to the orange waxy substance you are talking about and yep, it has name, believe it or not!  It is called "buck grease" and is found usually on the rats back or in areas he cant groom as well as he used for a few reasons: He lives alone and has no cagemate to groom him; he is a chubby little guy or else he simply just got lazy and doesnt groom like he used to! :-)
This orange waxy deposits are from excessive male hormones and since we have a mammary tumor in the making, which are usually hormone fueled, it only makes sense his body is in overdrive with hormones and he has developed buck grease! It can come off during his bath if he feels like standing there long enough. You can use a soft baby tooth brush and a dab of shampoo (some clients swear by dawn dish soap!) and gently scrub it. It may come off with the first try or may mean you need to give him another bath at another time, but I wouldnt make his skin too raw by trying to get it all in one shot.
Being he is white, you may also notice some pink stained fur too.....and if so, this is coming from porphyrin discharge from his eyes or nose.  You may or may not know what porphyrin is so I will tell you anyhow but if you know, skip the next few sentences! LOL!  Porphyrin is a secretion from the harderian gland found behind the rats eyes. When the rat is stressed from illness or other factors, the harderian gland works over time and produces more porphyrin discharge coming from the eyes and nose. This usually startles the rat owner and they assume it is blood and they race the rat to the vet for a nose bleed or bleeding from the eyes. Its a huge relief when I tell the nervous rat owner what it really is!  Anyhow, if the rat does have even normal amounts which alot of rats do, around the nose usually, when the rat grooms, it may smear the porph and get it on his little paws and smear it onto his face, head or chest or even get it in their mouths and make it even worse. LOL So again, for anyone with a white rat that wonders why they have pink fur  sometimes, here it is, in black and white!  LOL

I hope I helped shed some light on the things you wrote to me about.

Here a vet in your area that are listed as exotic vets so you can take Angel to see someone about this little lump  He will be ok, though, I just know he will!!

Please keep me posted!!


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Dr. Susan Orosz
Bird and Exotic Pet Wellness Center    
5166 Monroe Street Suite 305
Toledo OH 43623
Phone:    419-843-3137