Another rat with cancer

Poor Betty has developed a massive lump on her back foot. Took her to vet, he put a needle in it and only blood came out so he believes its a tumour. :-( I had him inject her with a long term antibiotic just incase but not sure it'll do any good. Gutted as shes my wee favourite. Cancer seems to be taking all my rats from me. Betty is 21 months old, and walks with a head tilt as it is due to an ear infection she had in January with cleared up. Since then her sisters have been bullying her, so its not been easy. Now she has this to deal with. Vet wants me to seperate her from her sisters.

Why on earth does he want you to separate her?

Can you get a photo? Could it be ulcerative pododermatitis by any chance? (Bumblefoot).

xx

He feels that they will only continue to bully her but it's only really Elsie and Dorothy doing the bullying and it's not all the time. She and Bessie get along very well and are very close so I feel Betty is best left with her sisters. Here is a photo I've just taken of her foot. Would be delighted if it was bubblefoot. What do you think?

Very hard to say - vet not happy to try amputation if needed?

It could be bumblefoot - is it growing fast? Did it come up like literally overnight?

xx

I only noticed it 2 days ago for the first time. Although in fairness, I was working away for the week beforehand and hubby was minding my rats. So it could have come up any time in past week. Maybe it had been there as a small lump before and I didn't notice it either. When she exits cage she just runs up my arm so I hadn't really been looking.

I'd be worried about amputation being too much for Betty at 21 months? Do you think it would be worth it?

That's a choice only you can make, obvisouly it's difficult and it's hard on the rat too, and there's a pretty decent infection risk I would think. I'm not sure I would bother personally, but the option is one to think about.

I certainly wouldn't take her away from her friends though - is she very fat?

xx

Yeah I don't think I would go for amputation as she is close to her 2nd birthday now, so I feel it would be too traumatic for her. If she was very young, I'd consider it. No she'll continue to live with her sisters, I think she would become depressed without them. To be honest I wouldn't call her fat. I'd have definitely called Blanche fat. But the 4 I have now aren't. Their diet is much healthier than Blanche's was. Lots of fish and green vegetables and fruits. Betty is probably the heaviest of the 4 but I'd not call her fat, but she's very active, eats, drinks, grooms etc. Thank you for your advice. :-)

I only ask because weight plays a large part in bumblefoot, usually, and so if she was very fat it'd be more of a case for bumblefoot.

I don't know how easy it would be to remove a tumour from the foot, not much loose skin to sew up after removal :/

xx

If it is bumblefoot, would the injection of antibiotics be enough? Vet said it was a 2 week dose. Should I do anything else?

I don't believe in long term antibiotics I'm afraid... they really don't last that long. She would need a course of antibiotics (but to be honest, if it's bumblefoot, antibiotics won't make a difference). Best thing for bumblefoot is keeping it clean (if that is what it is, doesn't quite look right for it).

xx