I noticed last night when she was running around on the floor that one armpit looked a bit fatter than the other, so I picked her up and checked her out, and there was a definite lump there. I've been doing some reading and it seems that it's a benign mammary tumour (18 months old, lump not attached, flat and squashy), though I'm taking her to the vet this afternoon for a second opinion!

Has anyone else dealt with this? My BF said that he wouldn't have her operated on, but from what I've read, even benign tumours grow very quickly, and can often be as big as the rat within a month, so even if she only had a few more months with surgery, then I would gladly do it.

She seems perfectly happy in herself, she's eating, drinking, grooming, running around as normal...

Has anyone put a rat through surgery for this? Do they cope OK under anaesthetic? How quickly do they recover? Did the tumour come back?

Our appointment is in 3 hours, any advice before then would be greatly appreciated!

I'm sorry i haven't got any advice for you, but i hope all goes well at the vet :)

All of 3 of my girls underwent at least one surgery and with the exception of one all went very well and the rats recovered quickly. The only one I wouldn't do again was the last one on Sherman, a very elderly rat (she was almost 3 when I got it done) and she was alone because all her cage mates had died and she was extremely aggressive to other rats because of abuse she suffered before I got her. She had problems using her rear legs at that point and the surgery made that much worse for about a week and she had problems recovering due to age. It extended her life by several months, but when another tumor started to grow I decided not to have it removed because at that point her quality of life was starting to go.
If your rats are fairly young and pretty healthy I would go ahead and go for the surgery provided you have a vet you trust to do it (check RMCA.org for surgical guidelines). I've always thought it was a shame to put an otherwise healthy rat down because they can't walk because of a giant tumor when a surgery would have them feeling 100% with in a few days. Tumor removal is fairly safe because you don't need to cut into the abdominal wall, but even when Sherman had to have a hysterectomy because of an ovarian cyst that had destroyed her reproductive tract and made her bleed vaginally she was acting normal, eating, drinking, etc. the same day and was climbing around and feeling totally better in under a week.

Thanks for your advice... if the vet is OK with it, I'm definately leaning towards surgery. I can afford about £200, anything more than that and I think I'll just have to let it progress and see where we are!

Do you mine me asking how much you paid for your ratties operations?

I hope everything went well with your rat!
One of mine had a tumor also and it did grow very big. Unfortunately not one vet in my area would consider operating on her. They all said when it got to big they'd put her to sleep "for free" though. Very compassionate. :-/
They also said rats are prone to them.
She lived for about 18 or so months with the tumor (she was about 2 when it happened) and she passed pretty peacefully in my hands.
I hope the surgery turns out good for yours. :)
Mary

they varied but all were under $200 American, and from what I've gleaned those were pretty expensive compared to other parts of the country, I have no idea what it would be overseas though, it seems like it would be less because rats are more popular pets there than in the US. It makes it less expensive if you don't send the tumor off for testing, unless there is a specific reason to it is a waste of money.

Well, there's good news and there's bad news. The bad new's is that it's definately a tumour, but it appears to be benign, and fairly self-contained. The good news is the vet is happy to operate, and she's going in on Thursday morning.

£150... a bit more than I was expecting, but hey. She's my baby.

He said there's a good chance another one might pop up in as little as 6 weeks, but that even if it does, she could live with it for 6 months or more, as long as it doesn't get too big.

I don't think I can afford to pay for surgery every time one pops up though! At least we can give her a fighting chance with this one - well, I say 'we', but I mean me, since BF doesn't seem too happy about having it removed, or paying for it.

And other than that, she's a happy, healthy rat. So fingers crossed this will be it.

Thank you all for you advice - I'll keep you updated!

I had a rat die from a tumor. It was in his head though. The surgery would have been too difficult for him to live through since it was in his brain. I let him die in peace. He was about 4 years by then also. I do hope for you that they can get it all and their won't be more for a while. Hopefully she can get old too.

I've never had a rat, but I've had rabbits (not really considered to be rodents any more, I understand), gerbils, and 1 hamster.

I've heard that it's a good idea to get a vet who has experience with "exotics", if you have a rodent who needs veterinary care. A vet who specializes in cats and dogs almost exclusively might not be so well-equipped to handle a different animal.