Every time I make the mistake of thinking "I haven't had to call the vet in a few weeks..."
This evening I found a growth on Bob's back. At first I thought it was a scab, but when I cleaned it off with hydrogen peroxide it became obvious it wasn't dried bllod, just discolored skin. There's a little texture to it, but it isn't thick enough to be a lump. It looks, actually, like the pictures you see in pamphlets about skin cancer.
I'm really concerned that the poor old guy has a tumor, although I haven't been able to find much information about skin cancer in rats. Of course my frantic mind assumes melanoma...and I don't to put him through surgery at his age, especially the way he's been short of breath lately.
He's an old rat...39 months now, if he truly was 2 and a half when we got him. If I stick with what I said when I adopted him, he's in hospice now.
My plan is to watch the skin growth carefully for the next few days, and call the vet if it gets any bigger. At that point we'll discuss surgery, but I have all my fingers crossed that this is just some benign thing, some rat age spot that won't grow.
I got lucky with Curly's tumor...it grew for awhile then flaked away. I hope his brother has the same tumor-fighting genes.
Posted by Abita at December 2, 2003 08:45 PM