One of my rats, Herbert, has started popping out in tumors left and right (4 so far) I had three taken off Friday and they ended up weighing about 20% of her body weight. Other than the tumors, which are well encapsulated and easy to remove, shes very healthy, so I thought that surely there would be some sort of drug I could give her to keep more tumors from coming back, or slow their growth, or something. Well guess what? There is nothing to give her! There is one drug that works some of the time and has a bunch of really ****ty side effects and would require a spay surgery (a major operation in a 2 year old rat) so all I can do is keep taking them off as they get too large for her to move around with.

How is it that a rat, the animal on whom almost every drug has been tested at some point or another, has no decent meds for cancer? Its not even a matter of them being too expensive, or too hard to dose or only injectable because if it could be done then I would do it. There is simply nothing to give her. I've consulted 2 vets, had them consult about 5983045 experts in this sort of thing and gotten nothing but cut her open and take them off. WTF? :wall:

Why are we testing on them if none of our meds work on them?

I'm sorry about Herbert, I hope you're able to keep her comfortable. I have guinea pigs, and it's the same thing, veterinary medicine just isn't very advanced for them either.

I'm sorry about Herbert, I hope you're able to keep her comfortable. I have guinea pigs, and it's the same thing, veterinary medicine just isn't very advanced for them either.

And people test everything on guinea pigs too, I just don't get it. Presumably (and my vet has backed me up on this) the drugs on the market for humans now were tested on small mammals and worked, which is how they got to human trials. So why can't our guinea pigs and rats at least get decent medical care out of the deal?

And people test everything on guinea pigs too, I just don't get it. Presumably (and my vet has backed me up on this) the drugs on the market for humans now were tested on small mammals and worked, which is how they got to human trials. So why can't our guinea pigs and rats at least get decent medical care out of the deal?
Hmmm, I’d venture to say that perhaps profit or lack of profit for pharm companies has something to do with availability of such meds. Have you asked your vet if s/he knows of a med for humans that could possibly work for your little guy?

Unfortunately, in most laboratory settings, rats are simply "vectors", tools for research. They are considered as disposable as used latex gloves. Developing treatment for rat cancer would probably be considered silly, expensive and time-consuming. So, no go.

Nice name for your female rat, btw. :D

Hmmm, I’d venture to say that perhaps profit or lack of profit for pharm companies has something to do with availability of such meds. Have you asked your vet if s/he knows of a med for humans that could possibly work for your little guy?

All the meds we've considered have been for humans. Apparently a bunch of them have been tried with no results in pet rats. My vet thinks it might have something to do with most rats being tested with induced tumors.

ETA: my vet also told me that most of veterinary medicine is based on animal testing, for instance if an arthritis drug is tested on dogs and works well then they'll sell it for dogs too, etc. Which is why he doesn't understand why we can't reproduce the results of past experiments on rats with the human drugs currently on the market.

that really sucks :( I'm sorry.
It does seem very unfair on the rats.

And people test everything on guinea pigs too, I just don't get it. Presumably (and my vet has backed me up on this) the drugs on the market for humans now were tested on small mammals and worked, which is how they got to human trials. So why can't our guinea pigs and rats at least get decent medical care out of the deal?


Tell me about it, I'm even more upset since one of my guinea pigs, Jake, has become ill since I last posted :(

Tell me about it, I'm even more upset since one of my guinea pigs, Jake, has become ill since I last posted :(

I'm so sorry, its so hard to watch them sick. Is it something from which he can recover?

Tree:

I know exactly how you feel. I just recently (in the past 2 months) lost 2 of my best friends due to cancers as well. Frankie battled cancer of a Zymbals (sp?) gland for over a year and had it removed/treated countless times. For an unspecifiable amount of time, Spooky fought hard with pea-sized tumors overcoming his lungs. He was over two when they were finally discovered, so it was dangerous and futile to try to have them removed. They both passed away peacefully, and hopefully painlessly in their sleep, surrounded by their brothers. They were both rescued lab rats. My vet said the same thing to me, how it is ridiculous and a horrible shame that rats are always the ones being tested on for everyone else's medications, yet there is hardly any knowledge of treatments out there for them. I'm very sorry Tree, I know how hard this is to go through, but you can always talk to me if you need the company of another ratty mommy :hug:

I'm so sorry, its so hard to watch them sick. Is it something from which he can recover?

I don't know, we're still running tests trying to figure out exactly what's wrong--my vet thinks maybe cancer, maybe renal failure--his kidney levels are a bit off. But he's still happy and not in pain, just really thin, so I've been spoiling him with extra treats every day hoping he'll gain some weight.

Does anyone have any suggestions for putting weight on a guinea pig (that doesn't involve alfalfa hay (since his calcium levels are already elevated?)

I'm sorry, belovedtree. It's very hard when you see how sensitive and sweet rats are, to know that many millions of them are treated like mere things and then killed in labs each year (in some of the most horrible ways imaginable, like the LD-50 tests, and no pain meds for all their surgeries and endured abuse). It's disgusting what vile humans called researchers to do these little creatures.

I'm sorry, belovedtree. It's very hard when you see how sensitive and sweet rats are, to know that many millions of them are treated like mere things and then killed in labs each year (in some of the most horrible ways imaginable, like the LD-50 tests, and no pain meds for all their surgeries and endured abuse). It's disgusting what vile humans called researchers to do these little creatures.

This is so true, one knows intelectually that each animal has his or her own special personality, right to life, etc. but when one really falls in love with a rat and sees how different and lively and wonderful they are its even worse to think about the horrible things that are happening to their extended family.

I don't know, we're still running tests trying to figure out exactly what's wrong--my vet thinks maybe cancer, maybe renal failure--his kidney levels are a bit off. But he's still happy and not in pain, just really thin, so I've been spoiling him with extra treats every day hoping he'll gain some weight.

Does anyone have any suggestions for putting weight on a guinea pig (that doesn't involve alfalfa hay (since his calcium levels are already elevated?)

At least hes not suffering, but its still so hard to watch them sick even if they have no idea anything is wrong. I'll keep both of you in my thoughts.