# Hard of soft tumor, hard of soft abscess? I need help! My baby has a tumor or abscess



## abratforarat (Jan 12, 2014)

I noticed my first baby has two bumps under her armpits. I know its an tumor or a abscess, but I don't know what one. Is a tumor soft or hard, or is a abscess soft or hard? July was always healthy until now. What should I do now? My parents won't take her to the vet so I guess there's nothing I can do. Maybe they will if I pay for it which I'm willing to do. Can the vet help though? Some help would be appreciated!


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## Juliah456 (Mar 12, 2014)

http://www.ratfanclub.org/abscess.html -- http://www.ratballs.com/RatTails/Tails099.html -- http://rathelp.org/raisinrats/medical/lumps.html ... These are some articles that I've found extremely helpful  To start, A tumor is usually harder, and is fixed in position (doesn't move with the skin) ... I do know that mammary tumors appear commonly in the armpit area, the third link has info on that. An abcess is more like a big pimple, and will become soft if you hold a cloth soaked in warm water against it for a bit. First two links have more info on abscesses and cysts. Good luck


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## Juliah456 (Mar 12, 2014)

And yes, a vet can definitely help. They can identify for sure what the lumps are and give you the steps required to get rid of them, be that ointment, surgery, or some other treatments.


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## Isamurat (Jul 27, 2012)

A mammary lump (which is most common there) starts of feeling soft and mobile but gets firmer and more dense, an abcess feels like a baloon, quite well inflated but springy, they aren't normal in that area, though there are a couple of glands there which can house abcesses. I would probably expect them to be lumps. 

Lump removals are generally straightforward ops, ideally spaying her at the same time as this cuts down the chance of reoccurrence, they aren't cheap though. I would ring round vets and price it up and see if you could afford it. How is her weight? If she's a bit chubby then dieting her well help slow the growth a lot.


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## abratforarat (Jan 12, 2014)

Thanks everyone! She is 12 ounces. I am pretty sure its a tumor! I have 200 hundred dollars in my wallet and more in the bank. What are the choices of what the vet will do to her and can it kill her? How much will it cost? She's almost 3 years old.


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## cagedbirdsinging (May 28, 2012)

The cost will vary wildly from region to region and vet to vet. It's impossible to give even a ballpark idea on this. It could be 50 dollars, it could be 250.

The choices will begin with palpation (feeling the lumps) and doing a fine-needle aspiration and/or biopsy to determine exactly what is going on. They may skip over the biopsy and go straight to lump removal. Current gas anesthesia is very safe, but things can and do happen. This risk increases with age.

For a rat at 3 years, the vet may wish to observe the growth rate on the tumors to see if removal is a better option than simply allowing her to live out the rest of her life until the tumors become too much for her, which could be a few weeks or a few months.


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