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Author Topic: Rat Owners/experts, advice needed.  (Read 2997 times)

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Offline Private_Bubbles

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Rat Owners/experts, advice needed.
« on: January 31, 2012, 01:10:43 AM »
I think my rat may have a tumour.


She is almost 2 years old and a while ago I noticed that she seemed to have some sort of lump next to her rear right leg, I was sort of in denial though and thought that it was just her getting fat or something but I washed her today and when her fur was less in the way it looks very pronounced and unnatural.


I looked it up online and it looks like she has a mammary tumour like the one in the second photo on this page (the white rat). I will find a vet to see if my suspicions are true, I hope it's not too bad :(


Has anyone here had any experience with this problem in their rats? I hear it's quite common with females, but luckily my other rat has no odd lumps.


Also, does anyone know how much it will cost if it is a tumour that needs to be removed? I really love her and want to do the best for her, but I don't know how much we can afford :/




Offline naylastar

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Re: Rat Owners/experts, advice needed.
« Reply #1 on: January 31, 2012, 06:17:38 AM »
Oh no, poor thing. My boyfriend has had loads of rats, only two in the time I've known him and they both got tumours. It's a big problem with rats. Everything, I mean almost everything, causes cancer in them. And they're such lovely pets too. Best thing would be to ask a vet, I know in most cases though, they say it's kinder not to remove it.  Ask your vet anyway and see how much it would be, there's no harm in asking and I'm sure they won't charge you for a consultation. I hope she's ok, I love rats.

Offline megsense

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Re: Rat Owners/experts, advice needed.
« Reply #2 on: January 31, 2012, 06:58:14 AM »
I'm sorry. *hugs* I loved my rattie brood (the boys passed away several years ago). I hope everything works out. I know for mine though they didn't get tumors, the end wasn't easy. Due to their ages we didn't go through any big medical treatments.
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Offline kaoskat

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Re: Rat Owners/experts, advice needed.
« Reply #3 on: January 31, 2012, 07:06:33 AM »
We dealt with tumors in ours. Sometimes we had them removed and sometimes not. We had one who kept getting them and we decided it was better to let it run it's course instead of constantly putting her through surgery. Sometimes they aren't really safe to remove and other times, it's over and done and the ratty is fine for a while more. Cost will vary by vet and often by tumor as well. Your best bet is to call and ask about the office visit fee for a consultation and if they have any estimates for tumor removal on a rat.  Some won't give you one without seeing the rat though, if that's the case, during the consultation let them know you need estimates before they do anything.
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Offline Private_Bubbles

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Re: Rat Owners/experts, advice needed.
« Reply #4 on: January 31, 2012, 08:02:55 PM »
Ok, so Mum rang the vet and apparently it will cost $56 just to see the vet, and we can't really afford that and the probable surgery on top, it's a lot to pay and we sort of can't really justify it, like I love her but she won't live forever, and all that stuff.

We're just gonna leave it and take care of her as much as we can, lots of hugs and care and all that :P

Thanks so much for your support!  :hug: It's really hard to have to try and make a decision about a pet's life, even one as small as a rat.

Offline Fezzy

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Re: Rat Owners/experts, advice needed.
« Reply #5 on: February 02, 2012, 01:11:56 PM »
unfortunately since pet rats are from what used to be lab stock they are very prone to tumours, and small animals are not good at anaesthetics. We had several ratties who plodded on for a fair while with lumps, sme of which were huge, but they didn't seem too bothered.

Two years is about standard for rats anyway, so putting her through surgery probably wouldn't have been worthwhile
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Offline mercynova

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Re: Rat Owners/experts, advice needed.
« Reply #6 on: February 03, 2012, 04:36:10 AM »
I'm not an expert at all I'm afraid, I can only offer hugs and good luck!

2 years old is about average for a rat though isn't it?
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Offline Binkyfinder

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Re: Rat Owners/experts, advice needed.
« Reply #7 on: February 03, 2012, 03:57:29 PM »
I'm not sure what it is about female rats.  Every single one (literally) that I've ever had eventually ended up with a tumor - usually between the ages of 2 - 3 years old.  It didn't matter what diet they had, the size of their cage, etc.  I can understand not having surgery done on her.  The two times that I took them to the vet, they died.  (I haven't had any though for almost 2 years though, although I don't think that the procedures changed all that much.)  If you do decide to take her to the vet, see if you can find one that has experience with small animals. 

I'm sorry about your little pet though.  Even if they're small, it's still tough to see them hurt.  :( 
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Offline Private_Bubbles

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Re: Rat Owners/experts, advice needed.
« Reply #8 on: February 03, 2012, 06:16:13 PM »
Binkyfinder, it's strange that all of your rats had tumors, and very sad too :( luckily my other rat hasn't shown any signs of having a tumor yet *touch wood*.

Thanks for all your support guys  :hug: she seems to be going fine so far :D

Offline ZennaBug

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Re: Rat Owners/experts, advice needed.
« Reply #9 on: February 03, 2012, 09:51:03 PM »
I've had lots of rats.  Several of them ended up with tumors, it's extremely common.  When my rat Lani was about 2, I noticed that she had what I suspected was a tumor.  I scheduled an appointment with the vet and then the night before, my oldest girl (Zenna, who was the inspiration behind my username) finally showed signs that she was too sick to move on.  So I took her with me to the appointment as well and had to have her put down.  She was almost 4 years old and had been losing a lot of weight.  I fed her baby food to keep her weight up and thought it was working.  The vet took one look at her and said that she was beyond help and that euthanasia would be kindest, so I put her down.  Turns out that the weight wasn't body fat, it was a giant tumor that was growing internally where I couldn't see. It has cut off all the nerves to her hind end.  She had lived with it for about a year undetected, since it wasn't visible at all and she hated having her tummy touched.

Back to Lani, the vet said her mammary tumor was operable.  But when they opened her up, it turned out to be cancerous and had spread to other parts of her body.  There was an abcess that made the surgery site hard to close up.  A few days after the surgery, the wound reopened and I had to rush her to the vet again during emergency hours.  She stayed there overnight for an emergency surgery.  In the end, it cost me almost $1,000 and another tumor popped up a couple weeks later.  I decided that she had been through enough and I decided to just make her the happiest rat in the world until she either passed on her own or needed to be put down.  She died 3 months later, sometime between when I fed them dinner and when I went to say goodnight.  :(

When my boy Leo was about 2, I noticed a lump above his tail.  He'd been neutered so he could live with the girls and I couldn't imagine such a sweetie (he was by far the best rat I ever owned) being sick.  As it grew and I knew that it was a tumor, I decided to not repeat the same mistake I had with Lani.  In the end, her surgery had been way harder on her than the tumor had and it was way more than I could afford.  I adored Leo so much, it broke my heart to watch that tumor grow.  He passed away on my lap about 6 months after I had first noticed it, but he was happy and sweet until the last day.  Right before he died, he licked my fingers one last time.  I still get chocked up thinking about it and it's been almost a year.

My last rat, Goldie, got her tumor right after Leo passed.  I left hers as well and just made her as comfortable as I could.  It was only about 2 months before I could see that she was suffering though, so I had her put to sleep in the end as well.  She was a little under 3 years old.

So I've lost 4 rats to tumors.  Two at about 2 and a half years, one at almost 3 years, and one right before she turned 4 (but she was ancient).

It's amazing how much a little rat can wiggle its way into your heart, I understand that.  But from my experience, the surgery and anesthesia is way harder on them than the actual tumor.  I think Lani might actually have lived longer if I'd left hers alone, but I wanted to save her so badly.  My best advice is to love your little one for as long as she has left.  Give her special foods (when my rats started doing poorly, I made sure they all got daily salads with carrots, pasta, baby food, peas, bananas, all their favorites.  I wanted their last meal to be a great one if they passed unexpectedly) and lots of lovies.  She may live another year with that tumor like Zenna did, or she may go quickly like Goldie.  Just try to enjoy the time you have left  :hug:  I had to stop keeping rats because of the life span, it was so hard.  I'm sorry that your girl is sick  :hug:
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Offline HavACrumpet452

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Re: Rat Owners/experts, advice needed.
« Reply #10 on: February 04, 2012, 11:17:40 AM »
The big problem, IMHO, with tumors is that when they are removed, you should also remove an inch or two of healthy tissue around them if you can, so you have more chance of getting any spores. You can't do this with an animal as small as a rat. The best thing to do is not to disturb the tumor so it doesn't activate and spread if its just sitting there and watch the rat to be sure you think its got quality in its life. Once the quality is gone, then consider euthanasia, though be sure your vet does it with CO2 and not injection. The thing that kills a rat with injection is the needle piercing the heart, not the drug.
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Offline melodys_angel

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Re: Rat Owners/experts, advice needed.
« Reply #11 on: February 04, 2012, 12:04:52 PM »
Im soo sorry to hear that, hun :( Its always hard to find out somethings wrong with your pet.
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Re: Rat Owners/experts, advice needed.
« Reply #12 on: February 04, 2012, 09:59:26 PM »
Once the quality is gone, then consider euthanasia, though be sure your vet does it with CO2 and not injection. The thing that kills a rat with injection is the needle piercing the heart, not the drug.

My vet anesthetized Zenna before giving her the shot.  She was completely unconscious and then the euthanasia worked quickly so she couldn't feel a thing.  I went back into the room with her to be there, but I wish I hadn't.  I'm not going to go into details, but it was horrible to watch.  I couldn't hold her as they knocked her out anyway, so she didn't really have a sense of me being there.  With Goldie, I went to a different vet, but made sure that he knew to not just give her the shot.  He seemed shocked that any vet would consider just straight-up injecting a rat without painkillers.  He used CO2 on her I believe.  Much less twitching.
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