# My rat has a lump on her belly?



## Emi (Feb 25, 2014)

This is very upsetting.
My rat Penelope has this lump on her belly when I came to feed her this morning, (it was not there last night before bed because I had her out and was playing with her!)
its like this bubble more to her side. I touched it and it moves around and its not hard at all. She is very, very active, still eating, still drinking, very chipper. But I am very afraid this will progress to worse. I just lost my baby boo, Belle, last month and am losing my dog today. My heart can't take this right now.

This time I took pictures. But it was extremely difficult with the camera settings and her squirming.. I didn't want to upset her any further in case it hurts when she's picked up.




















From the side view you can see it sticking out. Then I had my brother hold her belly up and its swollen right where her nip is because you can see it showing. The last pic she was kicking but its defined when she moved her leg. I circled it and hopefully you can tell.
If you need better pictures or at a certain angle, I will not hesitate to go take better photos to try and diagnose this..
Thank you! <3


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## iloveme88999 (Aug 5, 2015)

I'm sorry to say that it's probably a tumor. How old is your rat?


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## Emi (Feb 25, 2014)

iloveme88999 said:


> I'm sorry to say that it's probably a tumor. How old is your rat?


She turned 1 this year a few months ago..


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## iloveme88999 (Aug 5, 2015)

I would bring her to the vet because I'm not able to properly diagnose it. It looks like one though. Goggle some pictures of rat tumors and compare your rats lump to the pictures.


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## Emi (Feb 25, 2014)

iloveme88999 said:


> I would bring her to the vet because I'm not able to properly diagnose it. It looks like one though. Goggle some pictures of rat tumors and compare your rats lump to the pictures.


Ah.. I'd have to look for a new vet if I can find one. I've been to two different vets already and they were absolutely horrible.
I'll do that, thank you


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## Finnebon (Jul 15, 2013)

If it really did appear overnight, it's likely an abscess. She may need antibiotics and will need warm compresses a few times a day until it pops, or the vet can lance it for you. There is a thread sticky about how to care for abcesses.

But mammary tumors do grow very fast, so it's likely that you might not have noticed it until now. If she's just a little over one, she would likely do pretty well through surgery to remove it which is good news. Without removal, it will continue to grow. If you need time to save up to afford surgery, buying Turkey Tail mushroom capsules and giving 1 capsule everyday (some people give as little as 1/10 of a capsule too) mixed with babyfood or something else tasty, can help it to grow slower. Some people have really good luck with turkey tail, and some people don't. I suppose it depends on the individual rat's body and the exact type of tumor. I'm so sorry about your recent losses.. but this doesn't seem to be anything life threatening at all. Very common in girl ratties and most vets have a lot of experience with tumor removals because of how common they are.  Be sure to take her to a vet to get a proper opinion. I hope you find a better vet!

Turkey tail link on Amazon if you want to try it: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0017OB03E...8&qid=1440137218&sr=sr-1&keywords=turkey+tail


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## Emi (Feb 25, 2014)

So, I've been looking for vets now and Penelope still has her bump. But it has not gotten bigger at all and its been.. almost a month exactly.
I'm really stressing about these vets because I've been to two awful ones already and $51 just to get her looked at with the possibility that she won't get help stresses me more than ever. But its wrong to keep Penelope waiting like this? I called and the vet was already planning to put her into surgery! I don't now if that's a good sign or not..

She's perfectly fine except I do see her to be less active. Usually she'll hop off the sofa and explore the house but now she kinda stays there and will sometimes lay down on the edge. (Unless I put her on the floor then she'll kinda explore with her sister.) Its been like this somewhat after Belle's death and before her bump. But maybe I'm just stressing about it extra because of this bump.


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## doctorowl (Sep 2, 2015)

If it hasn't gotten bigger, that's a really good sign. Also that she's still acting alright- maybe a bit less active, but then again, that can be caused by a load of different things. I'm sorry to hear your vets have been so terrible. $50 to get seen is actually not bad though. An "exotic pet" visit for me is about the same. My vet herself is great, but the office is just plain awful. The front desk people are always rude, don't even acknowledge me when I walk in the door, never act happy to see us. When I considered getting my boys neutered it was $150 PER RAT! Then when they had to be PTS they were going to charge me $100 for a heart stick and they refused to use gas. I went somewhere else and paid $40 for both to be PTS humanely. Sorry I didn't mean to rant at you lol. I just empathize with crappy vets. 

Back to your problem. If she is only a year old then she should be okay for surgery to get her lump removed. Usually rats start having trouble after about 2 years. Is she spayed? If she is, it might actually be an abscess like Finn said. But she seems okay, right? You have some time. Calm down, breathe, and make whatever plans you need to make. She'll be okay.


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## Emi (Feb 25, 2014)

Right, she's been pretty normal thank goodness.. and haha no, rant away! I feel you. Life would be so much easier if vets didn't ridiculously price things for such little work they do.. its unfair honestly. I feel like most vets I've been to, if not, all of them, just take advantage of the love I have for my pets. Its inhuman.

How much do you think surgery would range to? My vet didn't give me an estimate so I'm nervous. I hate to make it about money but it is a real problem..
I do not think she is spayed? How would I tell, exactly? I adopted Penelope and Ivory from two different pet stores when they were a few months old.
Thank you so much, you don't know how much I appreciate it <3


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## doctorowl (Sep 2, 2015)

If she's been spayed, you might be able to see a scar on her stomach. Otherwise I think a vet would be able to tell. It can be hard with pets that were adopted, sometimes you won't know their history, but there's ways around it. 

Unfortunately I have no clue about the surgery costs. It really varies from vet to vet. Some places $100-200, some could be a thousand, who knows  You'd have to call around and see what their basic prices are. I always call several places first and pick the place that is the cheapest + nicest to me and my pets.


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