anemic rat?

Question
My vet said my rat was anemic and has swollen lymph nodes and an enlarged spleen he can feel. He wants to do blood work and the rat is at the hospital. He is pretty sick and listless. He is only a year old. What is he looking for? I am so worried!  

Answer
Hi Jolene

I am real sorry for your rats health woes. I can pretty much say that your vet is trying to rule out leukemia in your rat by taking blood samples. He is right where he needs to be by being in the hospital so dont let that get you down.
The signs the vet sees, like anemia,enlarged spleen and lymph node involvement all point to what is known as Spontaneous leukemia and although it is not common in rats, unfortunately, it does happen. Often it goes undiagnosed because usually death can happen suddenly and often the rat doesnt have a necropsy done or if its done, its usually a freebie by the vet that gives a quick visual and what he cant see, he needs to send to pathology for a fee and the owner usually says NO because (and I am not blaming them, mind you) most people say "Meh, the rat is gone, does it really matter now?"  and so the tissues are not sent to pathology and so its never diagnosed and documented.  I admit that sometimes if the vet really is curious, he will send tissues off anyhow and eat the cost himself just so he can know and learn from it, which I admire in the doctor for doing it too.  The more we explore the more we learn and the more we learn, the more we are able to treat and possibly even be able to help rats better and possibly extend their lives a bit more since they are already shorted with such a short life span.

Anyhow, lets hope for the best and please keep me posted. I am curious to know what the results from the blood work says.

Regards

Sandy