Found a tumour on one of our girls :( (Rats)

[PixieofCatan]

We've just found a tumour on one of our girls, looks like a standard reproductive organ one :( She'll be seeing the vet tomorrow, decided against taking her today as she seems fine, not in pain, happier than usual if anything and there's the London to Brighton bike ride on, of which we're at the Brighton end so essentially locked into our estate until later today.

What's the likely next step? We know that they're likely to reoccur so is there any point in putting her through the stress of an op to remove it? If we don't, what's her life expectancy going to be looking like? & what will we do with her 'sister'? She can't go in with our boys as she isn't spayed (that was the original plan for both girls).

Aw handholding - you've had a rough time with your rat-babies haven't you?

Your female rats are older than the boys IIRC.
I have no rat experience but I'd say if you trust your vet (and given what went on with your rats URTI and the eye of Howl ) then your vet seems pretty rat-savvy?

How big and op is it to remove?
What happens if you don't - what's her life expectancy as a female rat anyway, without surgery.
You could put her through surgery and give her another xx months of good quality life. Or she might be of the age where she's only looking at a year - 6 months anyhow (rat life expectancy is less than pigs I know)

If it doesn't work, what would you do with your other girl? Can rats side-by-side without the males going narky . Or do they need to have close companionship.

It's hard but don't 'plan' too far ahead until you see your vet. I find it's always good to ask "What if it was YOUR rat/animal" ,

Good Luck.

We've just been unlucky I think The vet is brilliant to be fair, they have been great with advice and I did want to call them today, but DP put me off of it. There'd be no point worrying about it if they wanted to see her immediately and we couldn't get there.

It's not a major op if it's not connected to anything, but any op isn't good for them really given their size and having anaesthetics. Rats expectancy is 2-3 years, though obviously some live longer. They are a year and a half-ish so easily a good six months left in them assuming they stay relatively healthy, probably more, so I think we'll have to see what the vet says about the tumour as theoretically she could live for another 6-18 months without it?

We'd need to work something out about our other girl. We were planning to get another pair of males early next year to become companions for our boys, but we may consider getting a pair of girls and spaying them young, so that they can live with Nibbles and Ruby, keep them with companions in old age and then move them in with Howl and Haku when the girls pass. But DP doesn't really want another pair of girls, so we shall have to talk about it properly depending on what the vet says tomorrow :(

What's the news from the vet Pixie.
Hopefully good news?

Well she went yesterday and they booked her in for an op tomorrow. DP has taken her and her 'sister' in, the vet today actually managed to get a good look at her and said that she thought that she may be a he But they'll confirm during the op. We've never really checked as we were told that they were both girls and Nibbles has never been pregnant (from our knowledge!) so we haver never had reason to believe otherwise! I'd feel really stupid if Ruby is indeed a boy. It would explain a lot, but then it wouldn't explain how Nibbles has not popped out any sprogs We've never really been able to look as she's so fecking skittish.

All the rat bollocks I've seen have been mahoosive and attatched to sleeping rats.
If 'she' is a 'he' maybe his testes are not descended properly, might make him sterile?

Good Luck tomorrow, is it the rat with the lump that the vet suspects is male?

Yeah, that's why we've never suspected anything. The boys have massive bollocks! That and Ruby (Rudy?! ) is a skittish pita, so hides a lot, and doesn't get held for long periods of time/always moving towards cage when held. I've always thought that she had a funny bollocks-like look about her rear end, but more like tiny boys do, just that vague shaping, and I always thought that was just her looking different or me not being able to see properly! But we'll find out later today!

Yes, rat with lump is possibly male. They asked us to bring Nibbles in too so that Ruby felt more comfortable and at ease (we took her to the appointment on Monday too, both for that and because I wanted her weighed because she's a squirmy bugger). Which we thought was nice, didn't realise that they did that kind of thing as when Howl went for surgery it was an emergency vet appointment.

Well, Ruby is definitely Ruby as opposed to Rudy. She has a cystic multi-chambered tumour that cannot be removed. So from now on it will be about keeping her comfortable. It's small at the moment and they've managed to drain some of it, but it's likely to grow back and to continue growing.

She's happy and perkier than usual at the moment. We have a 2 week course of Baytril to keep the entry wound infection free and hopefully reduce the tumour a little, but it's unlikely. So I'll be contacting local breeders over the next few days about booking in some babies for a few months time, just so that we don't end up waiting two or three months for Nibbles to have some company when Ruby needs to be put to sleep. The vet had no ideas about how long she's expected to live as for all we know it'll glow really slowly and she'll last another 12 months, but I want to ensure everything is ready for that time.

Oh news - at least now you know what youu're facing and you can plan accordingly.
The trouble with little rodenty creatures is their lifespan is so brief , it's difficult to face the end.
(I had a similar conversation with my DD, she won't believe that one day her beloved GP1 will go, but I see the subtle changes in him)

You are the best judge really of how her next months go on (I hope she does get a good few months of quality life).
Would you be looking at a couple of boys and neuter them or do you think you can convince your DH to get more females?

(I'm going to have GP3 'done' in the school holidays. I can't put him with a very tiny boar and like you say, when the time comes for GP1 to cross The Bridge, I want GP3 to be ready . It's not a subject you want to dwell on though )

Speedy recovery for Ruby (that song is in my head now. Oh Ruuuuuu-beeee )

Yes :( But I'm a planner, I plan things well in advance, so it's giving me comfort to be able to have some warning and plan for the next few months of her care and for Nibbles care after Ruby has gone than for it to just happen, IYSWIM?

We've agreed to get a pair of females and spay them. According to research we did eons ago, neutered males should not be put in with unneutered males as they tend to get bullied, so we'll get a pair of females and spay them young (I asked the vet today and they've said that they will be able to do that).

I am worried that Nibbles will require a long settling in period with new rats as she can get very ratty (LOL) with the boys if they approach her cage. The one time one of the boys stood on their cage she bit his finger. Stupid sod still tries to climb on the girls cage This is Howl though, our loveable, overly curious "I want to be everybody's friend rat. So I'm not overly convinced that she'll blend with other rats well but we'll see.