Help needed with a possible abscess!

Hello everyone

One of my two adopted rats (females), Freyja, has developed what I originally thought was an abscess. I first noticed a small lump and red spot on her fur about a week ago. After doing some reading, I decided it was probably an abscess and started applying warm compresses daily. However, as far as I can tell, it has yet to drain, though it has grown rapidly. Out of desperation two nights ago, I tried to lance it, but aside from a little bit of initial blood, nothing came out. I was hoping you all might have some ideas regarding it. I should add that she's always been the fatter of the two. When they saw the vet back in december, she weighed almost twice as much as her sister.

I'm aware that ideally I should take her to the vet, but that's not something I can afford right now.

Here are two pictures of it from two nights ago. Unfortunately, when I first noticed it, it didn't seem significant enough to photograph, so I don't have an image from a week ago. That being said, it seems to have stopped growing as of the 5 day point from when I first noticed it.

Thank you in advance for your help.

Zac

Oh my... that looks bad. Unfortunately, she really needs to see a vet with that.

I'm sorry , but I think that is a tumour, not an abscess. You really need to think about what you want to do for your girl. Are you willing to pay for surgery to have it removed if that is possible? Or are you going to have her euthanized? She needs to see a vet ASAP to make sure she is not suffering.

She needs a good rat vet asap.
It doesn't look like an abscess to me, but whatever it is, she needs to see a vet asap
As Joanne said, surgery may be able to take care of it,
otherwise she may need to be humanely put to sleep

At the very least, she needs to see a vet immediately, be evaluated and receive medication for pain etc
and you need to find out what your options are

The longer you wait, the less likely she will be a candidate for surgery, and the more she will suffer

poor little girl

Please read this link on how to have rats humanely put to sleep
- most vets do not know how to do it properly so it is important that you make sure it is done properly, and be with her if possible
http://www.ratshackforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7652

Here is a link on things to discuss before surgery, many vets do not know how to properly do surgery on rats.
It is important that only gas anesthesia is used as injectable will usually kill them
http://www.ratshackforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7691

Here is information on signs of pain in rats
http://ratguide.com/health/basics/signs_of_pain_in_rats.php

Rats are not inexpensive pets and when ill, they require immediate vet care.
It is suggested that people have bank accounts with a balance of at least $300 for the first rat and $200 for every other rat.
Many of us have credit cards we use for rat medical expenses ....

I hope you can somehow come up with the money to pay for the care she needs

Good luck to both of you

I'll get her to the vet as soon as I'm able. In the meantime, would you recommend putting some sort of antibiotic on it? Also, would a tumor grow that fast? It at least doubled in size over the course of 5 days, possibly tripled.

It's the malignant ones that grow very fast. I wouldn't put anything on that, just leave it be for now. I'm so sorry your sweetie has this.

I would not put anything on it. She will just lick it off. You could possibly put her on pain medication if she seems uncomfortable.
An abscess does not look like that. The skin is swollen but intact and then it will pop in one spot. The pictures you have posted are totally different - the skin has been changed.

That unfortunately looks like a squamous cell carcinoma. They are usually inoperable and grow really fast.http://ratguide.com/health/figures/squamous_cell_carcinoma_figure_1.php

Well, thank you for your expertise. I appreciate it. What should I give her as a painkiller? a small piece of tylenol?

No, you should pick up infant liquid ibuprofen for her. If you can give me a weight I can give you a dose.

Freyja crossed the bridge yesterday evening. Her sister and I miss her a lot. Thank you all so much for your advice and your kindness.

I am so very sorry {{{hugs}}}

I'm sorry Freyja has left for the Bridge. Safe journey little lady :heart:

Play hard at the bridge little baby, I'm so very sorry.