Facial Abscess Advice

Hi this is my first time posting on here so I'm sorry if this is in the wrong place but I need some advice...

About a month ago my baby boy Jasper passed away and left his brother Hugo on his own. Up until this point Hugo had been happy and had lots of energy, running around his cage all the time. After Jasper passed away he became much more reserved sleeping most of the day and becoming more fussy about what he was eating so I decided to get two new babies to keep him company... Just before I picked the new babies up he developed an abscess on his face which the vet lanced.. after 10 days on antibiotics the abscess looked a little better but it is still very sore looking as he is constantly cleaning it, giving it no time to heal! Because of the abscess I separated my Liberta Explorer in two... only letting the rats play together when they were out of the cage. The thing is I now have a dilemma... the vets have basically said that the abscess is unlikely to ever fully heal which leads me to believe that I should keep them separated however Hugo seems so much more lively and happy when he is with the other boys. Am I best to keep them together (even at the risk of one of them making his abscess worse possibly if they are ever play fighting) where he seems happiest or do I leave them separate?

Any help/advice would be so much appreciated as I feel like I'm torn between his happiness and his health. Realistically I know he doesn't have long left... if it gets any worse we will have to have him put to sleep (although he doesn't seem in pain... just irritated by the abscess) but I want him to be as happy as possible until that time comes.


Edit: The vet lanced the abscess and he was put on antibiotics for 10 days. The vet said that he found cancerous cells in the sample that he took from the abscess and that this is the reason that it may not ever heal again. He has been on metacam daily ever since and we also have a manuka honey gel with pectin in it which is meant to help with the healing process however it seems to make him just rub at his face more trying to get it off...

I shall guess the abscess was directly under his ear if he's a standard ear rat, or just in front in a dumbo rat? If so this is mostly likely a Zymbal's Gland Tumor (ZGT). Can you get us a pic?

Sadly ZGT's are aggressive, and very invasive so not really operable. You just need to keep him comfortable until its time to let him go. Watch his teeth for malocclusion (where the incisors don't align anymore and they grow unevenly, and watch for inner ear infections where you will need to treat with antibiotics. Eventually you might need pain management to keep him comfortable.

If he were mine, I'd let him be with the new boys. I don't think the new boys could make his tumour any worse.

I thought that it might be a Zymbal's Gland Tumor but from looking at pictures on Google I don't actually think that's the case. It's based much more around his mouth and leaks puss from time to time but the vet hasn't really given much advice other than metacam and manuka honey gel therefore I've just been using cotton wool and doing a hot compress on it just for as long as he'll let me until he starts getting cranky(!) but it still looks really sore!

I've been checking his teeth and they seem fine, he still bruxes and seems happy in himself... he's old though so it's hard to tell what is just old age and what is down to the abscess.

I'm going to open up the cage later and see how they are with each other whilst I can keep an eye on them because he does seem much happier when they're together I'll get a picture for you then as well.

Is it on the jaw? Teeth abscesses could be a possibility and very hard to treat. He would need to be on long term meds like Clavamox and/or enrofloxacin.

Since there is an infection, then regardless of whether there is a tumor or not, he needs to be on very aggressive antibiotics.
http://ratguide.com/health/integumentary_skin/abscess.php