OK I got one but it's doubtful I can get a photo by myself, Dre is far too squirmy
He's had a bump on his side for awhile now, then it seemed to grow a second,smaller bump that seems to be attached to it
I've tried warm compresses but nothing happened. The double lump feels quite solid.
well tonight was I was putting him back in the cage I noticed a dark spot and sure enough there was a kind of scab on the lump that was lifted off on one side.
I gently pulled that off (it came off pretty easily) but what is inside the lump is all sorts of odd things-
there's some chunky whitish stuff that crumbled and could be picked out wiht my fingernail, but there's also some stuff that looks like hair and some other stuff that looks like a wart
Frankly it's kinda gross BUT there is NO odor of infection whatsoever!
should I give him ABs just in case, since it is an open "wound"?
I tried flushing it with warm water but besides the white crumbly stuff, nothing else came out.
There's a tiny bit of blood but only a really small amount, much less than you'd expect from something as big as this thing seems to have gotten.
The cavity seems pretty deep but is still just under the skin, if you know what I mean? it def does not go into muscle.
It looks very much like the cavities that are left after an abscess has come to a head but there is, as I said, nothing that smells bad like an infection (once you've smelled that, you NEVER forget how bad it smells!)
what do you think I should do? is he going to need the vet to remove this thing?
I cant' tell if it hurts him at all because he is such a nervous boy he will jump for any reason and squeak if he's afraid.
ETA
I found a photo that looks very similar to what Dre has on his back:
http://www.ratfanclub.org/abscess_files/image039.jpg
from
http://www.ratfanclub.org/abscess.html
It appears that what I thought was a scab was just some dirt?
I am guessing he's going to need this surgically removed?
