clarkacademy Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 It looks like my daughters rat has developed a tumor. Where do I go from here? Is removal possible? Is it horribly costly and would it just be kinder to put her down? She is still acting just fine but it seems to be getting bigger at a good pace. So what should I do basically is what I am asking? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Smith Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Our rat was old and had tumors. We had her put down. From what little I know fixing problems with rats are expensive compared with cats and dogs. Rats are such small animals which complicates things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkacademy Posted January 20, 2014 Author Share Posted January 20, 2014 So maybe it would be best to let her go then? But right now she is acting totally fine should I wait until she starts having issues like if it gets to big for her to walk or she starts acting bad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Smith Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 I'll bump for you, because I know very little on the subject. Perhaps google would help. Either way I recommend finding ut as much as you can before going to the vet. It might cost over a hundred dollars just to get him looked at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 Every rat I've ever had that lived a normal lifespan ended up with tumors. You can have them removed- I did on a couple occasions- but it can be costly, and there's no guarantee the rat won't just grow another tumor. Pet rats are very, very prone to tumors. I've heard it has something to do with the way they were bred for use in labs, but I don't know if that's true or not. Anyway, with the rats I had, if the tumor wasn't in an awkward place and wasn't causing the rat any discomfort, I waited and kept an eye on it. If it was causing pain, and the rat was still quite young or I was extra attached and couldn't bear to have him or her put down, I had the surgery done. If the rat was older and the tumor was causing it pain or making it hard for the rat to get around or eat, or if the rat had multiple tumors, I had the vet put it down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GailV Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 I'd go to a vet that specializes in pocket pets and talk to them about it. Around here (St. Louis) that visit won't be crazy expensive. You'll have a better idea of what to do then. We've had a tumor removed before. Again, it wasn't crazy expensive. Like Mergath, it was a younger rat. When an older rat got a tumor, we let it go because the rat had so many issues that it was really too fragile for the operation. She lived a few months with the tumor, and eventually died of old age. FWIW, we also had a young rat develop a tumor and immediately become so sick that an operation wasn't possible; she passed away within a few days of our noticing the tumor which was growing at an incredible rate. Our current vet does spaying on young females, which supposed cuts down on the incidence of tumors. OTOH, our old vet though spaying was expensive and fiddly on rats, and not really worth it. Dealing with rat surgery is tough -- the entire business of putting them on anaesthesia can be dicey, plus afterwards you have to keep them from picking the incision apart. A lot really depends on the vet, too -- how comfortable and familiar they are dealing with rats and surgery, be it for tumor removal, spaying, dealing with an injured eye, or whatever. The biggest hurdle for us has been finding a vet we trust. You need a vet that really knows rats. We've had more female rats that haven't developed tumors than those that have. Maybe we're just lucky that way ... or maybe our rats just tend to die of weird stuff. Our biggest problem is respiratory issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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