# Should this be taken care of by a vet? (odd abscess)



## Finnebon (Jul 15, 2013)

Aoife has had this abscess that's slowly been growing for a couple months now. It has always had the dried scab looking bit in the middle. When it was smaller I tried popping it after warm compresses to no avail. I've been doing warm compresses occasionally and haven't seen much progress towards it naturally popping. I'm concerned it might get worse and that scabby bit is the actual pus sort of thing that's just poking through the skin and may end up causing infection (she was on antibiotics a week or so ago for an unrelated issue). Should I take her to a vet to have it expressed? Or do you think I should keep doing the warm compresses and see how it goes? The abscess is in the very surface of the skin so I'm not worried at all about it being a tumor even though it isn't pretty. 











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## Isamurat (Jul 27, 2012)

That looks like a cyst rather than an abcess, if its not grown much in all this time thats more likley as well. A cyst is filled with hard bits of debris from skin or fur and crusty and scab like. If theres a hole you can normally squeeze them out but on larger one (like this looks) if the hole isnt big enough it may need debulking first, which is breaking the lump into smaller bits which can be removed out of the small hole. That location looks like it could be uncomfortable so i would probably speak to the vet about it. It might be with a whiff of gas she can debulk it without surgery. Normally cysts are pretty harmless but can be awkward or get an infection behind them.


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## cagedbirdsinging (May 28, 2012)

Agreed... this is a sebaceous cyst. Super common, especially in hairless and double rex. Essentially, it's just a huge blackhead.

A vet will need to tend to this as the hole is too small for the contents, like Isamu said. The easiest way to deal with it is for the vet to clean and lance the skin, which will allow the material to come out easily. If your girl is calm, it probably won't even need sedation.


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## Finnebon (Jul 15, 2013)

Ah, darn. Was hoping to avoid the vet bills if possible, but I guess this doesn't have a home remedy option. I trust the opinions of you both, so I'll start calling around vets tomorrow. Do you think I should just ask something along the lines of "do you lance cebacious cysts on rats"? I don't really have any vets around here that I feel totally comfortable with, and most of them charge around $70 just to look at a pet. She may need sedation. She doesn't like it very much when I poke around at it down there and doesn't like to be held still and will squirm quite a lot. I doubt the vet would let me in the room to hold her while they lance it. But I guess I can ask all these questions when I call.

I'm just worried it might be pretty painful for her if she's not sedated..


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## cagedbirdsinging (May 28, 2012)

Just say that there is a large sebaceous cyst that you need help removing due to the danger of infection. Maybe mention the size.

She might need to be sedated if she is that nervous. This really does warrant a vet visit, though. It will cost significantly more when it becomes infected and an abscess forms behind it.


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## Finnebon (Jul 15, 2013)

It seems the "hole" that is there is getting wider, and I think it might naturally open and get rid of the cyst gunk on its own very soon. If it does open up and debulks by itself, should I treat it as an abcess and clean it out? If/when it does pop (or if it doesn't pop soon) I will take her the vet within a couple weeks. I am keeping a close eye on it and though it isn't an immediate emergency, I know it is something that can't just be ignored until it goes away. So don't worry, she will be taken to a vet by the end of this month, but since it seems to be opening up slowly everyday, I'd like to see if can come out naturally without the trauma of being sedated and held down by a vet and cut open a bit to debulk it.


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## Lesti (Jun 25, 2013)

I just wanted to add, one of my rats had an abscess under his jaw, and my vet did not even need to sedate him in order to pull off the scab and drain it. I don't know how they did it (they took him in the back. Grr), but he is extremely skittish with being on his back. So much so that I couldn't even moisten it with saline while he was healing. So now it's dried out... :/ but I think that they could do that with out sedating her, because it's in a pretty easy to access spot.


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## Finnebon (Jul 15, 2013)

That's good. I really don't want to scare her. I think the entire thing is firm, and the "open" part is exposing the hard pus (or whatever it is that the cyst is made of). I thought it was an abcess at first too even though it was hard, but other suggested sebaceous cyst and I think they are correct. Since it's hard, I think it might be either easier to debulk it (just open it and take it out), or harder to debulk (since they have to work with a struggling rat and open it up presumably with a small knife which would be painful and stressful to Aoife). So I'm not sure.. eithe way, I'll still wait a couple weeks to see how it develops and then off to the vet to take care of whatever happens (and maybe get some more ABs just in case of possible future infection after it opens).


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## Isamurat (Jul 27, 2012)

I've debulked a large cyst myself when it opened far enough but the lad in question was very calm and trusting and I'm pretty experienced dealing with abcesses and the like now (it was also right on his back and easy to get to). It involved soaking to loosen it the tweezing bits out until it was small enough that gentle pressure from behind. it took a few days of short stints though but didn't hurt him as i was very careful. i would still recommend Moat people going to the vet, i would for some of my rats, Cirrus was a bit special. 

In terms of after care you want to feel the skin and make sure there are no gritty bits left in. With a longer term cust you du tend to get a small amount of liquid gunk behind which needs treating as an abcess. If it's dry and clean after the scabby material is out then they usually heal very well and don't come back.


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## Dan203 (Jul 10, 2014)

I've personally had several cysts and they do typically "pop" on their own eventually. Although I had one that was too deep and would not pop so I had to go to a doctor and get it lanced. In all cases they are very painful, so if it doesn't pop on it's own soon I'd take her to the vet and have it lanced just to save her the pain.


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## Finnebon (Jul 15, 2013)

Thank you for the advice everyone. I'll take her to the vet to have it lanced by the end of this month if it hasn't popped already. It's opening up quite a bit and I feel like it may be easy to debulk or debulk by itself on its own any day now. I'll give it more soaks and see if that helps it. Would you suggest just a warm wet compress? Or just sitting her in the bath and soaking for a few minutes underwater?


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## Dan203 (Jul 10, 2014)

Both help in my personal case, but soaking in the tub seems to be better as it stays warm longer. Will she sit in the tub? My guys, even the super friendly happy go lucky one, HATE bathes. They freak out if I even take them near the sink.


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## Isamurat (Jul 27, 2012)

I use cotton wool buds in warm water over the lump, mine hate water so I find I can hold this in place whilst scratching them or similar


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## Simons mum (Dec 19, 2013)

How is she doing? My girl had very similar just last week and luckily it opened up and cleared right up within days of doing so. We were pretty much on our way to the vet the day it popped. That's the way it usually happens with our girls.


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## gotchea (May 4, 2013)

I would die if this happened to my rat. I am a picker (my poor skin!) it's something I can't help... I'd want to relieve her of it so bad!! Haha I'd take her to the vet ASAP screaming at them to fix it before I do! Haha your rat is lucky to have you and not me for an owner.


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## Finnebon (Jul 15, 2013)

She is doing well. It's opening up more and more a little each day. I've also been putting some oil on top to hopefully help soften and keep the skin from drying out. I might wait it out a little more.. I feel like it's so close.

Simons Mum, how was yours? Was it hard cebaceous cyst like Aoife's? Or was it soft and ***** like a zit/abcess? Was it similar size? Aoife had a very small hard cyst on her head that I could easily pop (when she'd hold still) and it came back at least 3 times, but after the last pop, it's completely gone now. I'm hoping that when this one pops/gets debulked, it won't come back! I'm just glad at least I know it's not a tumor!


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## Simons mum (Dec 19, 2013)

Ièm glad to hear she is doing better. Tokens lump was very hard! It moved with the skin. Started off as a tiny hard bump on her shoulder. It stayed like that for 8 weeks, then in one day it got huge.The day we werew going to take her to the vet Inoticed pus on the top so I did a light squeeze and a tiny bit came out. Within days after, it was totally gone. Not even a dot now. I was told (after the fact) not to use polysporin, but I think that is what stopped it from getting infected more and then I used honey. I would try honey on your girl instead of the oil. Oil doesn't sound like the best choice to me since it clogs pores, but I could be wrong.


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## Simons mum (Dec 19, 2013)

I'm glad to hear she is doing better. Tokens lump was very hard! It moved with the skin. Started off as a tiny hard bump on her shoulder. It stayed like that for 8 weeks, then in one day it got huge.The day we werew going to take her to the vet Inoticed pus on the top so I did a light squeeze and a tiny bit came out. Within days after, it was totally gone. Not even a dot now. I was told (after the fact) not to use polysporin, but I think that is what stopped it from getting infected more and then I used honey. I would try honey on your girl instead of the oil. Oil doesn't sound like the best choice to me since it clogs pores, but I could be wrong.


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## Finnebon (Jul 15, 2013)

I forgot to update, Aoife's cyst is cleared out! It had opened enough on its own so I gave her one last soak to soften the skin, and was able to pop it out. I flushed it out with saline solution, it was bleeding a bit afterwards. It's been a few days now and I keep an eye on her, and overnight it closed up despite leaving a gaping crater. I can't flush it out from the inside anymore, but I do keep it clean and smear raw honey on it as a safe antiseptic and so far there has been no issues. Yay!

The lump that came out was very hard, tough, almost fibrous when I inspected it. I would guess it was at least a half inch across at the widest edges when it finally came out. I hope it doesn't come back!


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## Simons mum (Dec 19, 2013)

Wow! I'm impressed you got it out!
Yayyyyy!!


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