Ratablog

Lumps (Tumors and Abscesses)

*One in series of post to documents our experiences with a variety of health problems and how we, with our vet's guidance, treated them. This is in no way an attempt to create a comprehensive health care guide. We aren't vets, we just spend a lot of time (and money) at our vet's office...and unfortunately that is because there are a lot of health problems possible with rats. If I can give only one piece of advice to a new rat owner, it is get a good vet. Experience treating rats is good (I was quite pleased when our vet picked up Rizzo for the first time and said "These are my favorite of the pocket pets"), but so is a willingness to research and listen to what you've learned on your own.

Lumps

Rats, female rats in particular, are prone to tumors. I'd read that plenty of times, so when Rizzo developed a pea-sized lump near her jaw, I figured it was a tumor. Another vet trip. The vet removed the lump, but in this case it wasn't a tumor, it was an abscess.

Abscesses occur when pus collects at the site of an infection. The abscess is actually the body's way of containing the infection so it doesn't spread, but it doesn't always work, and a burst abscess can spread the infection dangerously through the body. An abscess can be red or feel warm to the touch, and if it does open there is generally a foul odor. In most cases, treatment for an abscess involves draining the pus, careful cleaning, and antibiotics. In Rizzo's case, the vet removed the entire unopened abscess so further draining wasn't necessary. Calle, though, had one that we didn't discover as a lump, we thought he had a bite wound. In his case the vet left the wound open so it would drain. He had three medications: the systemic antibiotic, a solution to flush the wound twice a day, and a topical ointment like Neosporin.

Rizzo and Krycek did both develop the tumors eventually, though. Coincidentally, the first lumps appeared almost simulaneously, Krycek's on her shoulder and Rizzo's in her abdomen. Both girls had surgery. Krycek recovered uneventfully, but Rizzo chewed her sutures out overnight. On the second try the vet gave her internal sutures, which caused a little irritation but at least they kept the wound close.

To keep a rat from chewing out the stitches you can use a collar, but you have to make sure the rat is still able to drink, and you'll probably need to help her eat. I've never gone that route myself. Other people have had success using a body stocking to cover the stitches. On subsequent surgeries with our rats the vet has used combination of internal and external sutures. Rats do heal up quickly, luckily, and Rizzo is the only one who has needed multiple trips for restitching.

Krycek wasn't even through her two-week post-op antibiotic course when I found another lump. By this time she was two years old or perhaps older, and she looked so miserable with the stitches and the medicine that I decided not to put her through more surgery. The vet advised that the lump would grow and probably more tumors would show up as well, and that once the tumors were large enough to impair her quality of life we'd have to put her to sleep. It was not an easy decision to make. However, the lump did not grow as fast as I had feared, and even when two more tumors grew on her chest, she really didn't seem affected by them. Eventually she did need a ramp to get to her upper shelf in her cage, but as she got older I couldn't tell if her decreased mobility was because of the lumps or her age. She lived another seven months with the tumors. I had to put her to sleep when the abdominal tumor ulcerated and began to bleed, but even on the morning of the last vet trip she was eating yogies from my hand a building nests with the tissue paper in her cage. Rizzo's course was similar, multiple abdominal tumors. She was also put to sleep; her largest tumor began to turn black and I didn't want it to open like Krycek's did. And in Rizzo's case, two nights before going to the vet, my ever-active and exploring girl did not want to leave my lap. Never had she elected to spend an evening curled up with me instead of doing her own thing, and I felt like it was her way of telling me goodbye.

Posted by Abita at September 1, 2003 03:15 PM