Rat with a tumor

[J.huff23]

So my female rat has had a tumor right behind her front left leg for a week or so now. Im just wondering if this will be fatal? Its a very good sized bulge.

If there is little to no chance of survival, is there a human way to euthanize her or do I just let her die?

Thanks,
-Jake

 

[Sukai94]

I have owned many, many rats in my life. I am guessing somewhere between 12-15. Most of them ended up getting tumors.

You can have it removed by a vet. They will often continue to grow if not removed. Problem is often times when a rat has one others will pop up. It is a sign your friend is near the end of his life. I have been told the tumors do not cause the rat pain. I ended up letting mine live until they died (likely tumor cells made their way into an organ which killed the rat) or the tumor got so big I decided it would be best to put it to sleep.

Good luck!

 

[Jaymz Bedell]

i think your first course of action should be to find out if the tumor is malignant or benign. a lot of rats develop benign tumors, but some develop malignant tumors. knowing what youre dealing with will go a long way toward making your decision. please keep us updated.

 

[pouchedrat]

I've owned well over 100 pet rats in my life.. half the females wound up getting tumors (usually mammary) and some males did, but nowhere near as many as females.

Vets can remove the tumor easy as long as it's not in a place with vital organs, etc... I had one with a tumor on his neck once and that wasn't treatable, and one with a tumor on her genitalia which wasn't treatable either... oh, and the one with pituitary tumor, that was sad, she kept having seizures.... and there really wasn't anything to do but treat the seizures

Anyway, most of the tumors rats get are benign. it's really sad, i'd say get it removed or at least get the rat euthanized when the tumor is too big... because it will keep growing. Honestly when you've seen a rat with a mammary tumor the size of the rat itself, it's not a pleasant sight...

 

[Obelisk]

How come there are so many pet rats that develop tumors? Are most of them descended from a line that is predisposed to cancers?

 

[Jaymz Bedell]

inbreeding, many many generations of inbreeding. it not only brings about the things we want it to like color and pattern mutations but it also brings about things like benign and sometimes malignant tumors, cancers, kidney and liver issues, among a host of others. responsible breeders try to screen for such things in their lines, but most rats are carelessly bred as theyre meant to be food. if its going to be eaten it doesnt matter if it gets a tumor at 2 years old since it will be dead and possibly frozen and digested long before it even hits 1 year old.

 

[Obelisk]

That makes sense. I had in my mind something like them being descended from a line that was intentionally bred for vulnerability to cancer, for the purpose of research. I guess I was a bit off lol.

 

[Jaymz Bedell]

fortunately thats not the way it works. though the way it works is less pleasant as they're intentionally infected with things so they can test or monitor for specific things. unfortunately most rats and mice are bred for either lab work or feeders, the feeder trade doesnt care to weed out those with bad genetic flaws as a feeders a feeder, doesnt matter that it could be more likely to develop cancer since it'll likely be dead and gone before then. lab rodents are bred for certain traits sometimes, most of the time they're bred for consistency. a lot of feeders are retired lab rats...atleast from some of the less reputable feeder suppliers. most of the genetically related illnesses are just from poor selection. one of the major reasons to get pet rats from a breeder that screens their breeding stock for such things. and now all this talk of rats makes me miss having a big mushy male rat or two or three or...as a companion animal. awesome pets, some of the best!

 

[pouchedrat]

yeah... what was said. I've had some great rats from amazing breeders (one of which I had to wait 2 YEARS before my rat was even born, lol), but I've also done a lot of rescue work, as well as just had rats dumped off on me or that lone pet store rat that looked horrible and needed vet care and such.

I actually recently acquired three VERY young rats, beautiful markings, dumbo ears, from a feeder breeder who was local. Within a month, two of the three died from unknown reasons. As in, they were completely fine the day before, I go in the next day to feed and water and one would just randomly be dead. I have the third one still around, who was younger than the other two, but it really makes me worried. I also noticed lice gnits on her, so I'll have to be treating her and the other rat (who was a feeder that licked my fingers and her way into my heart at a reptile expo of all places... and she's been the most amazing rat so far) for that.

The only time I've seen something like this happen before, was during a HUGE rescue effort I helped leg part of the transportation for, from a hoarder in California. The guy had literally hundreds and hundreds of rats, and thousands of mice. We drove as many rats to new homes as we could, and I helped drive some from North Carolina into Maryland, as well as adopted one for myself. Later on, we noticed something seriously wrong with those rats, as they would literally just drop dead at a moment's notice, at VERY young ages. The boy I adopted did the same thing.... one moment he was fine, the next he just dropped dead. I was even there when it happened and it was pretty devastating.... I sort of wish I took him in for an autopsy but this was years ago, and with the two newest ratties that did the same thing, I didn't take them in either. If the third one does it as well, I will take her in to find out what the hell this is.

It's sad... but bad genetics is very common...

 

[Redneck]

Reading this made me think of our rats that passed a few months ago.. Archie & Oreo.. Both were males.. We had them for 3.5 years.. We let them run around the house all the time.. You could call them & they would come running to your feet..

Sadly one morning I went to clean their enclosure out and found Archie laying on his side.. He was alive but was having troubles breathing..

A few days later Oreo was found the same way..

They were both rush to the vet when they were found & put to sleep..

 

[Cirith Ungol]

Sad stories here! For sure.

I'd love to get rats but I'm put off by the fact they have so short lives. It would break my heart interacting with them intensely and one day they're just gone.

 

[J.huff23]

I have only had her for a year and a half. I got her from a friend of mine. I had good times with her. She use to sit on my shoulder while I walked through the house and she use to be with me when I watched TV. She started getting meaner so I had to stop holding her.

As long as the tumor isnt causing her pain, I think I will just wait untill she passes

 

[Twistedrayne]

I've had two of mine pass with the ugly growths. Hoodie, who was born in my care and very close to my heart, ending up with a tumor nearly her size. I remember how hard it was to keep things clean and safe for her. I also had a young dumbo pass for no visible reason. I'm guessing they're so closely inbred for their ears that some of the bad traits carried on as well. It's so sad, they're such sweet little guys!

I hope everything turns out alright for your rat. How old is it?

 

[Lilija]

I love rats so much. I kept them for a while, till I became allergic. Out of the thirteen rats I've had, only one girl got a tumor. We had it removed, but the damn thing popped back up in the same place, right in a mammary gland, behind her left front leg. We let that one go. It got rather large, but her quality of life didn't seem affected. Right till the last day, she was interacting, cheery, affectionate, eating well. She lived for about 3 months with it, and died a day after her second birthday.

I miss having rats. About a year into keeping them, I developed severe allergies (like the life threatening "my lungs are closing up" kind) so, we moved all the rats to my son's room, and the men of the house took care of them. We're down to one little girl, that runs loose around my son's room, and I will very much miss having them, when she's gone. Amazing, intelligent little creatures.

 

[HankyPankyRoe]

Ratties

They make such wonderful pets. Every single one that I have owned developed tumor's. We put them down when it came 2 a point when they started 2 suffer.

I miss all my babies still 2 this day.

 

[Kathy]

Wow, I am amazed at how kind so many of you are on here! Redneck, you never cease to amaze me.....you even posted in the cat thread. I had a rat too that I just loved and sadly he developed a tumor at 2.5 years and I had him put down. I tried to treat him for awhile but then I knew he was suffering. It is so common, unfortunately. Same with parakeets. I think a lot of inbreeding causes it, but that's JMO. Their little lives are so short, but they give us so much enjoyment during the time they are here. The one I had I rescued from being fed to a rat (literally within minutes) I stuck him in my purse. LOL. I just loved that little guy.

 

[J.huff23]

They make such wonderful pets. Every single one that I have owned developed tumor's. We put them down when it came 2 a point when they started 2 suffer.

I miss all my babies still 2 this day.

How will I know if she is suffering?

 

[Kathy]

How will I know if she is suffering?

Just lays in the corner, doesn't move much, doesn't want to eat. Looks at you with sad little eyes......

 

[Jaymz Bedell]

body language is the first clue that an animal is suffering, next is behavior. if she looks like shes in pain, not moving much, not eating or drinking much, reacting badly to being touched when shes normally sweet...those are signs shes in some pain and possibly suffering. there will definitely be clues and you will notice them. just pay even closer attention and if shes in pain you will know. good luck and please keep us posted.

 

[J.huff23]

I will keep you all posted.