oh no.. the dreaded lump..

Looks like a mammary tumour. Someone on here may be able to help with alternatives. I know there is a drug that can shrink tumours but I don't remember what it is called, not if it will shrink this particular kind of tumour. If she is in good health a spay could prevent more from cropping up, though the earlier in life it is done, the less chance you have of more tumours.

Does she live with other rats?

Is there a rescue in your area you could contact for advice on the matter?

i assumed that is was a mammary tumor, but was hoping that it might be something less serious.

i have one other female rat that's a little over a year old that i got last august, and she's in great health, i've never seen her with any sort of respiratory problems or any other illnesses.

i've searched online for rescues, but i couldn't find any within a decent distance.
i'll call a few local vets tomorrow to try to get a price and hope that i can find someone to do it for under $150, but i really can't afford anything over that and i don't have anyone else to help me out.

Sometimes if you explain your predicament vets are willing to work with you.

It's unfortunate that you can't afford a removal. The sooner the better because it will just keep growing. Some rats have survived a few months with their large tumours. I'm so sorry.

How quickly did it grow? You said it was a size of a grape yesterday, but has gotten significantly larger in one day? It may be an abscess then. You can try applying warm, moist compresses to the lump and see if anything comes to a head on the surface, like a red spot or area of pus. You could also have a vet do a fine needle aspiration of the lump to determine if the lump is cancerous or not. Often abscesses grow quickly.

As for what to do; sometimes a steroid can help shrink a lump for a while; you'd have to ask your vet to try. You can also try the Budwig diet of 1 tbsp cottage cheese blended well with 1 tbsp organic flax seed oil, a sprinkle of curcurmin, Coriollus versicolor mushroom powder (from any health food store; use 1/4 capsule daily in the cheese mix); I've had success shrinking tumors with this before, sometimes more success than others, but certainly worth a try. Goji berries soaked and a few added to that mix also seem to help.

Although surgery will remove the tumor, I've often seen them grow right back in the same or another area on the rat; as one vet said to me, sometimes the body just gets 'programmed' to produce these things and surgery is simply removing the symptom, not the cause of the tumors. A spay might help.

Anyway, try the warm compresses and see if anything comes out of the lump or forms a spot that looks like it might open; tumors won't do this. Take it from there, but a vet check would be a good thing to help determine exactly what it is.