Should I take Momo in for a second tumor removal surgery...?

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Mandon

Mandon

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 6, 2014
Messages
344
Location
British Columbia, Canada
Hey guys. So a little over two months ago I had a potentially malignant mammary tumor removed from Momo and the vet told me it would probably come back. The surgery was on May 5th this year and recently I've noticed a new tumor on her mammary line very similar in shape to the one she had removed... in that it had an asymmetrical shape. I have no reason not to believe that this is the return of the very tumour I had removed and it seems to me that it removes all doubt that the lump was malignant.

I really want Momo to stay with me as long as I can but the surgery only kept the tumour away for two months... that's not a lot of time and the surgery was extremely expensive since my vet overcharges a lot for the simplest of procedures... I'm not sure I can afford to keep having it removed every two months if it's just going to keep coming back.

I'm not looking for validation on a decision I've already made.. I haven't made any decision yet, and the death of my rat Pepper is still fresh in my mind.. so I'm exceptionally determined to do everything I can to keep my babies healthy and alive. But this situation scares me.. because I'm worried that there's nothing I can do. For anybody that's gone through this before, what can you gather based on what I've said? Does it seem likely that the tumor will return, and is it really worth removing them if they'll keep popping up? I don't want to keep putting Momo through surgery if it accomplishes nothing...
 
Rats have a lot of mammary tissue, so there is potential for tumors to pop up all along both sides of your rat.
My girl Tabi has had four tumors removed so far in three surgeries. I don't want to say goodbye to a sweet, bright girl just because of a stupid tumor that is removable.
I have had two girls that have had a lot of mammary tumors. Both have had litters, so I wonder if that is a contributing factor.
Has your girl ever had babies?
 
Joanne said:
Rats have a lot of mammary tissue, so there is potential for tumors to pop up all along both sides of your rat.
My girl Tabi has had four tumors removed so far in three surgeries. I don't want to say goodbye to a sweet, bright girl just because of a stupid tumor that is removable.
I have had two girls that have had a lot of mammary tumors. Both have had litters, so I wonder if that is a contributing factor.
Has your girl ever had babies?
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She has not. I got her and her mum Daisy when they were 3 and 6 months old respectively. At first I thought this could just be another fatty tumour, since Daisy has a couple herself and they're pretty much tiny, benign and harmless - but it's much too similar to the nastier one she had removed. I suppose I'll just keep an eye on it right now but what I really want to know is whether or not it's worth getting rid of malignant tumors if they continue to come back. I just don't think I can afford to do it every 2 months.. and if it's resurfaced it seems like a lost cause, which is my biggest fear, since this type of tumor is likely cancerous and highly malignant and aggressive, which is what the vet suspected.
 
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Yeah, there is a difference between a regular mammary tumor which is somewhat benign, and a malignant tumor that will spread throughout their body. Good luck, I hope it is slow-growing and not invasive.
 
Sadly the bad tumors always come back here the mammary tumors we remove and they rarely return. Never actually.
 
Our girl Nina had her tumor removed just a few days before your girl and hers returned in the same spot to full size maybe even slightly bigger in just 5 weeks after the removal..the vet told us given its dark color and fast growth that it was cancerous and there was no fix for it but things we could do..surgery and radiation to fight its return but she would be very sick from the radiation and since their little lives are so short the chances of her being miserable for the rest of her days were high but she would be tumor free...I chose to just let her be cause the tumor doesn't seem to be bothering her for now though it is getting bigger..I'd rather her feel herself with the tumor than sick without it... Your girls doesn't sound like it is that so I would have it removed.. Sending lots of good vibes to you and your sweet girl.
 
RatPack said:
Our girl Nina had her tumor removed just a few days before your girl and hers returned in the same spot to full size maybe even slightly bigger in just 5 weeks after the removal..the vet told us given its dark color and fast growth that it was cancerous and there was no fix for it but things we could do..surgery and radiation to fight its return but she would be very sick from the radiation and since their little lives are so short the chances of her being miserable for the rest of her days were high but she would be tumor free...I chose to just let her be cause the tumor doesn't seem to be bothering her for now though it is getting bigger..I'd rather her feel herself with the tumor than sick without it... Your girls doesn't sound like it is that so I would have it removed.. Sending lots of good vibes to you and your sweet girl.
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Did you get her x rayed before surgery to see if it metasasized? That might be why it came back so quickly and aggressively.. but then I'm no expert. All I know is the vet said the type of tumor Momo has is likely cancerous.. and they seemed very sure it would return - and as much as it breaks my heart I simply can't afford to remove it every 2 months, given how much they overcharge on these things, and given my current financial situation I definitely won't be able to get it removed right away. I had to resort to crowdfunding last time just to pay for her last surgery. It's a pretty nasty situation all around.. but I'll probably be able to figure something out if there's still a chance Momo can get through this. I just don't want to put her through surgery again and again if it's not going to make a difference.

I am going to research other vets to see if they have better rates.. a tumor removal surgery for a rat really shouldn't cost $350.
 
I typed out this whole thing and my stupid phone flunked up and erased it.... Anyway we didn't do an xray for Nina but unfortunately I think her days are numbered since today she is in a lot of pain from what I am assuming is the growth trying to invade her hip space so her leg is useless..I've been giving her infant IBU which seems to take the edge off enough for her to sleep which is all she wants to do.... I got her to eat a piece of food and drink a few drops of water so we will be force fed food and drink till Monday when hopefully the vet will be able to squeeze her in.. She will be going with another girl with an growth on her throat... Poor babes
 
RatPack said:
And that price is pretty big I think Nina's was 195 and some change
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Yeah I have the bill right here.. the price seems inflated to high heaven.

Metacam Injectable 5mg/ml $10.12
Baytril inj 5% 50mg/ml $10.15
Isoflorane Induction Quantity 1.00 $29.00
GA per minute includes monitoring $0.00
General Anaesthetic per minute quantity 20.00 $87.20
Anaesthetic Monitoring Quantity 1.00 $18.20
Surgical time per minute quantity 15.00 $135.60
Surgical Pack Quantity 0.50 $23.95
Hospital Supplies $20.00

I really feel like this place is trying to milk me, which is infuriating.. I shouldn't have to go broke keeping my pets healthy and happy. Worst part is they're the best in town and they still don't know as much about rats as I'd like.
 
Wow they charge per minute
... I wish we had more time with these guys. We finally got a name for Nina's tumor today its hemangiosarcoma and she has weeks maybe a month or so left :(
 
RatPack said:
Wow they charge per minute
... I wish we had more time with these guys. We finally got a name for Nina's tumor today its hemangiosarcoma and she has weeks maybe a month or so left :(
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Yup. -.- not fun living in a small town where all the vet offices are either unknowledgeable on rats, money grubbers or both. But, we deal with the cards we're dealt I guess.

That's really sad about Nina >< I'm sorry to hear that. It's always horrible when our babies get sick and there's nothing you can do to help them.
 
UPDATE: It seems to be progressing more aggressively than before. I can feel a couple of smaller tumors starting to grow near the main one.

I'll most likely be able to afford another surgery for her, even at this inflated price - but I'm still not sure if I should put her through that if it isn't going to help.
 
If its already branching off and making more tumors then another surgery is iffy as at best it might buy her another couple of months before more appear.. She is your baby and only you can decide in the end what's best for her. Talk with your vet and get their honest opinion on what they think and then decide from there.
 
RatPack said:
If its already branching off and making more tumors then another surgery is iffy as at best it might buy her another couple of months before more appear.. She is your baby and only you can decide in the end what's best for her. Talk with your vet and get their honest opinion on what they think and then decide from there.
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Nature really isn't fair >< I already lost Pepper barely a month ago.. I don't want to lose Momo so soon afterwards.
 
Mandon said:
Yup. -.- not fun living in a small town where all the vet offices are either unknowledgeable on rats, money grubbers or both. But, we deal with the cards we're dealt I guess.

That's really sad about Nina >< I'm sorry to hear that. It's always horrible when our babies get sick and there's nothing you can do to help them.
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Mine charge by the minute too.

Sounds like the tumors will either keep coming back and/or appear in other places. I know we always want to be able to do all we can, but it sounds like making her comfortable might be the only option here. I'm sorry, I found how old she was when you got her, but how old is she now? I know at this point spaying her probably won't make a difference, but it might slow down the progression of more tumors.
 
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dspch911 said:
Mine charge by the minute too.

Sounds like the tumors will either keep coming back and/or appear in other places. I know we always want to be able to do all we can, but it sounds like making her comfortable might be the only option here. I'm sorry, I found how old she was when you got her, but how old is she now? I know at this point spaying her probably won't make a difference, but it might slow down the progression of more tumors.
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I'm not sure her exact age but I think she's one year and 6 months. I'm really conflicted because I want as much time with her as I can get, but I don't want to put her through surgery if it's only to delay the inevitable. Plus I won't be able to afford these surgery costs unless I really scrape the barrel, and even then I'm not sure. Is it even worth taking her in for an x ray? Even if it hasn't metastasized it'll probably come back again..

EDIT: Sorry if anyone read the post when it said she was 1 year 3 months. It was an autocorrect error with my phone that I wasn't aware of until today. Momo's not THAT young lol
 
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