# Lump under armpit



## Jackie (Jan 31, 2013)

My girl Brie has a tiny lump under her right arm. My friend told me to wait a few days and see if it goes away, could be a cyst she said. It's not attached to any bones, just floating out there. It's pretty small so I'm glad I caught it now.
I want to start feeding the girls miso to help prevent mammary tumors, but I wonder if I'm too late to prevent this one if it is one.

edit: I found this. It seems to describe her condition: "Benign mammary tumors are usually distinct lumps just under the skin that are only loosely attached. When you feel the lump, you can usually move it separately from the skin and underlying muscle. If your rat gets one of these tumors, you can be 99.9% sure it’s benign. If a tumor feels tightly attached to the underlying tissue, this can be a sign that it is malignant, but I have found that some benign tumors also feel attached because they are underneath connective tissue and turn out to be easily removed by surgery. Benign mammary tumors can grow huge (up to 4" across). They tend to have a basically round shape that tends to protrude. A malignant mammary tumor will rarely get more than 2" across and tends to stay more flat."


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## Jackie (Jan 31, 2013)

If anyone knows how much miso is good to feed a rat per day, let me know. I gave her a tiny bit tonight.
Also she's 14 months old.


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## Jackie (Jan 31, 2013)

Sorry for the number of replies! I'm going to wait it out for at least a week to see if it's a cyst. I am unsure about the miso, it does has sodium, I would rather buy soybeans and feed the rats cooked soybeans (less expensive than miso too). If anyone knows a good amount of soybeans to feed a rat per day, let me know.


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## Finnebon (Jul 15, 2013)

Miso is WAY too salty for a rat. It's concentrated and added to large ammounts of water to make soup, so it's much much to strong to give to a ratty straight up and the excess sodium would be bad. Try just giving tofu for the same soy type of benefits, but honestly it won't help much because in studies, the rats are given very large doses of it that aren't really feasable for normal pet rats. The soybeans would be fine too, but maybe just one or two beans a day. Be aware that soy has something very similar to estrogen hormone, and if the tumor is mammary (most likely), it could possibly make it grow faster unfortunately. But soy is supposedly good to prevent, but not to slow growth.

I've read that turkey tail mushroom exract can help slow the growth of tumors through. Use the searchbar and try looking it up on the forum and you might find some good info!

It should be fine if you wait a week, but I would take that time to look up vets in your area with experience in tumor removal and get quoted prices and start saving to pay for the surgery. It won't grow much in only a week's time, and you can schedule an appointment for her. I'm guessing your girl is at least around 1 1/2 years old? It's best to get it removed when they're younger and in better shape, and when the tumor is still very small.

If you have a trusted vet, and if you have the money and think it would be worth it, you can get her spayed at the same time as tumor removal, and that way it will prevent any more tumors from ever coming back. She will very likely get them again soon unfortunately. The sad thing about owning girl ratties


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## KreoCrisis (Jan 9, 2014)

My girl rat had the same thing, but it turned out to be a cyst. Thank god! I almost had a panic attack when I found it and kept debating surgery. But I'm broke so I waited a few weeks and it just kept shrinking.

I read somewhere that broccoli, cauliflower and brussel sprouts all have a chemical in them that helps prevent tumors in rats. And blueberries help them live up to six months longer- is what I read. I don't know if it's true, but I'm willing to try.


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## Jackie (Jan 31, 2013)

I hope it's a cyst, I really do. 
ughhh got my first quote spay + tumor is 170 + 200 - 350 (I am assuming the lower end because it's small for now). So 370 - 520. SHOPPIN AROUND.


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## Squeekers (Mar 22, 2014)

It could also be a fatty lipoma, which is a non-cancerous tumor. They are squishy and are unattached to surrounding tissue. Fatty lipoma's are just cosmetic. Your vet should use a syringe to take a sample of the lump and look at the cells under a microscope to decide exactly whats going on. If it's hard it could be a tumor as well. If it's hot and grows larger it's an abcess, but because it's mobile it sounds more like a tumor.


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## Jackie (Jan 31, 2013)

" Some other studies showed that feeding the rats miso, a soybean product, as 10% of their diet, also had a protective effect against induced tumors. "
http://ratfanclub.org/tamox.html
I may look into this. Nothing i can do right now. I just want to prepare myself if it turns out to be a tumor.

Thanks Squeekers, yet another possibility...


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## cagedbirdsinging (May 28, 2012)

The thing about prevention is that it's all over when the tumor pops up. You are no longer in prevention mode, but rather "slow it down" mode. These things can explode in growth, depending on the type of tumor.

I've heard excellent things about turkey tail mushroom extract slowing tumor growth and I do use it for the immune system support it provides alone.


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## Jackie (Jan 31, 2013)

I feel like I should have just spayed my girls when I got them.  I knew this could/would happen in a high percentage of female rats.

Got the rat health guide on amazon by Debbie and downloaded it to my computer. Helpful stuff in there too. 
It's reallly small right now like probably about a pea in diameter (a little flatter though). I'm just going to watch it every day and see what happens. I'm hoping there might be lower cost spaying back home, my mom works for the vet hospital. I would like to get all 3 spayed.

Going to look into the turkey tail mushroom thing. Thanks you two for recommending it!


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## Jackie (Jan 31, 2013)

I had skimmed through this not realizing she was talking about turkey tail mushroom (she used the actual name for it). And then nanashi told me to use it too.  i'm very excited. I don't know if i should wait to order it or just order it anyways for the immune support!
http://artistinsane.proboards.com/thread/14/holistic-treatment-methods-rats?page=1&scrollTo=14


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## Finnebon (Jul 15, 2013)

That link you shared is very interesting and I've bookmarked it! I do have a few things that I noticed that seemed off to me though.. can a tumor actually SHRINK? Whether it's cancerous or not, the cause is from cells multiplying out of control, and I'm skeptical about it losing bulk since it is true mass, and not just swelling or fluids.

Also, may have read it too quickly and didn't see it, but it says to use shark cartilage with it? Did it say what medical benefits come from specifically shark fin for rats? It's highly unethical to use sharkfin because of the way it's harvested and is illegal in many places, so how would you even find it?

But I too may buy that turkey tail mushroom powder! The oldest girl I have, I have no idea what her age is as she was an adult when I got her, so I think it would be a good idea for me now to start seriously using preventative measures, and to start the younger rats on it as well.

Is it good for preventing all tumors, or mostly mammary? Would it be very beneficial for boys to be given it as well?

Sorry for sorta hijacking your thread with a few of my own questions, I'm really intereted in it now! 

I hope what your girl has is just a deep cyst and not a tumor. Have you tried treating it like an abcess and putting on hot compresses to see if it will come to a head to be popped?

Hopefully you can find a cheaper spay/neuter place, or will be able to visit your mom soon. I found a place that about a 30 or 40 minute drive away, but was well worth it. The vet there was very experienced with spays and neutered for small animals and rats, and she did a great job on my boys. She also runs it as a low cost spay and neuter clinic so it was only $80 for each boy. She said she also does tumor removal so I will definitely go to her again if/when my girls get them. Just keep searching! I hope you find an experienced vet nearby who has reasonable prices.


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## cagedbirdsinging (May 28, 2012)

I am 100% against shark cartilage. It was touted as a human cancer miracle drug 10 years or so back and, unsurprisingly, this all turned out to be completely unfounded. The market is still slow to die down in spite of this, and now shark poaching is a larger problem then ever before. I could never back that product.

Anyway... more to the point, yes, the turkey tail is also listed under the botanical name and information can be found using that as well.


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## cagedbirdsinging (May 28, 2012)

Finnebon said:


> That link you shared is very interesting and I've bookmarked it! I do have a few things that I noticed that seemed off to me though.. can a tumor actually SHRINK? Whether it's cancerous or not, the cause is from cells multiplying out of control, and I'm skeptical about it losing bulk since it is true mass, and not just swelling or fluids.


Tumors are strange and disgusting things that can indeed be fluids in addition to mass. There are so many different tumors that sometimes it's only possible to tell what you're dealing with until after the vet is already inside and can look at the thing. Some of the individual parts of a tumor can be pockets of fluids, which is why some tumors quite literally pop up overnight. Those are the cases where you'll find the anecdotal evidence of "tumors shrinking".


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## Jackie (Jan 31, 2013)

Already said this to caged in my message, but I had forgotten about all the terrible shark hunting happening so I'm not going to buy that. 

I got the turkey tail 500mg 120ct online a a little less than $10 total (I used a couple coupons in conjunction to get over $5 off).  I'll update once I wait a little longer. I'll take her to the vet if I need to!

Caged said her boys get some everyday too for an immunity boost. They don't have to have tumors for it to help! I'm going to give 1/5th capsule to each girl every day (and use more as recommended for Brie if it is a tumor and she gets it taken out to help fight re-growth). Might try mixing with cottage cheese? I was reading one of the websites and flax oil and cottage cheese may help too! I bet my rats would find that tasty!


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## Finnebon (Jul 15, 2013)

If it's fine to give to both male and female and it's a food product that isn't a worry to overdose or cause toxicity, would it be ok to mix it in with some wet food for them to all eat out of a bowl together? Or is it still better to dose it out individually in a syringe or in little treat balls?

What coupons did you use and where did you buy your capsules? I'd like to buy some too myself!


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## Jackie (Jan 31, 2013)

I read that it can't really be overdosed. I'm assuming you could put it all in one mixed up bowl. I might put 3/5ths in a bowl of cottage cheese or whatever and then give Brie an extra 5th later on in the day. 
Just my opinion, I don't think a group serving could do harm, all three of mine dig into whatever i give them as is.

Caged said her dosing is 3 male rats share a capsule (500mg right?) a day. She'd have to answer if that is all in one feeding or separately.


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## brundlefly (Mar 27, 2014)

I'm sorry to intrude, I don't have much experience with rats and miso, but you really baffled me when you said miso was expensive. Miso is very cheap! Especially at an oriental market. I get a 12 pack of miso soup mix for maybe 3 dollars.


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## Jackie (Jan 31, 2013)

Oh darn you organic miso from the health food section! Also not miso soup mix, it's fresh miso in a tub so that may be it.
Also I am not feeding her miso because it could be too salty? I don't know, someplace online said they could have it.

Anyways update: got the turkey tail. The girls are loving their cottage cheese and turkey tail or pea baby food and turkey tail. I'm going to make my own pea baby food from now though. 
Going to find cold press flax seed oil too.


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## Jackie (Jan 31, 2013)

< not that instant dry miso. That mushy fresh miso paste>









lol!


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## Jackie (Jan 31, 2013)

Update: also got flax seed oil. They don't really like the cottage cheese as much as yogurt... should have gotten that. 

No change in the lump's size.


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