burst inguinal tumor :'( *WARNING - GRAPHIC PICTURES*

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littlematchstick

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2010
Messages
166
Location
ohio
Many of you have followed my other thread about my girl with the inguinal tumor, of course bad stuff happens on christmas eve, when no one in the area will be open..she's been doing pretty well up until a little bit ago..I came in to say hello to the girls, and found blood in the cage. She's not acting like she is in any pain. But I'm not sure when my vets office opens back up. I haven't had her pts yet cause shes still been her happy go lucky self..and I was ok with continuing, if she still acted great...I regret it now. I guess what I'm asking is, is there anything I can do for her at hoem right now? She's on doxy/baytil and I'm going to start her on the childrens ibprofun . ugh..anyway..here are pics, it looks to me like the tumor has ruptured/prolapsed and he insides are near the surface...I feel so horrible. I don't even know how/if I can clean that up. Shes still eating/drinking, giving kisses..and acting ok...but I know thats NOT ok. I am hysterical right now..and want to keep her comfortable until I can get her to a vet asap. Thanks in advance...here are the pics:








 
Did a lot of blood or fluid leak out? I had a rat with an inoperable inguinal tumour a few years ago and it ruptured one day and a ton of necrotic blood came out. I kept the area clean and put her on abs and it closed up and for a bit, she was actually better than before it burst because it shrunk so much. It burst once more but that time it also abscessed around the same time (the tumour was malignant and that's why it abscessed) and after that it was just palliative care until the abscess started affecting her.
 
victoria said:
Did a lot of blood or fluid leak out? I had a rat with an inoperable inguinal tumour a few years ago and it ruptured one day and a ton of necrotic blood came out. I kept the area clean and put her on abs and it closed up and for a bit, she was actually better than before it burst because it shrunk so much. It burst once more but that time it also abscessed around the same time (the tumour was malignant and that's why it abscessed) and after that it was just palliative care until the abscess started affecting her.

I'm not 100% sure when this happened, I've had lots of family here for the holiday (they left this morning) so I haven't been near the cage as much as usual, I know yesterday there was no opening. In that pic, you can see there this is a lot of scabby looking material on the opening and and I found a little bit of blood in the cage- which sparked the mass checking of everyone and I discovered this. I honestly don't think a lot came out..but I dunno about that giant scabby thing over the opening (should I leave that alone do you think?) She's currently on doxy/baytil combo- so I have the antibiotics already taken care of. She seems as if this isn't bothering her at all, but wow...I don't deal well with stuff like this at ALL. I have a critter nation, and moved the 2 crazy young girls to the bottom, because one of them started to pick at it a little, I didn't want that to happen. It just looks so bad to me, and I'm in like...panic mode right now. Was you'r rats tumor as large as hers seems to be in that pic? I mean that sucker is HUGE..I just don't want to keep her lingering on- if its in her best decision to be pts. But she seems so OK in herself- happy, loving, kissy..etc that I hate to pts if she is still willing to fight and keep going..ugh..i hate these kinds of situations.. Thanks SO much for responding! It's given me a little peace of mind..this couldn't have happened at a worse time. :sad3:
 
I wouldn't freak out. By the look of those pictures it's not too too bad.

You said it has scabbed over right?
Is she showing signs of pain (hunched - if she can hunch with that thing, squinty, puffy, generally unhappy)?

Are there any other rats with her right now?

I had a girl with a massive tumor on her side. It ended up being larger then her by the time I had to have her pts. She was fine right up until I had to make that decision. She did have a large scab on it which ended up being just from the skin stretching and cracking and bleeding. I freaked out too, but after I watched her for a bit and asked for opinions here, I saw that she wasn't uncomfortable so I just watched it. I didn't remove her from her friends because it made her very sad to be by herself.

Basically, what im trying to say is sit and watch her for a bit. See how she is acting, if she is acting normal then just go with it and deal with whatever happens when it happens. This is the most valuable lesson that I have ever learned from taking care of rats.
 
crumbilina said:
I wouldn't freak out. By the look of those pictures it's not too too bad.

You said it has scabbed over right?
Is she showing signs of pain (hunched - if she can hunch with that thing, squinty, puffy, generally unhappy)?

Are there any other rats with her right now?

ETA: I had a girl with a massive tumor on her side. It ended up being larger then her by the time I had to have her pts. She was fine right up until I had to make that decision. She did have a large scab on it which ended up being just from the skin stretching and cracking and bleeding. I freaked out too, but after I watched her for a bit and saw that she wasn't uncomfortable (and after consulting this forum lol) I just watched it. I didn't remove her from her friends because it made her very sad to be by herself.

Basically, what im trying to say is sit and watch her for a bit. See how she is acting, if she is acting normal then just go with it and deal with whatever happens when it happens. This is the most valuable lesson that I have ever learned from taking care of rats.

yeah I have 2 rats with large tumors right now...Ive never dealt with tumors before...so this is all new to me. She seems *ok* in the sense..shes giving kisses, taking treats, wandering around. She did what looked like a little bit of a mini *owie stretch*- but I gave her some Childrens Ibprofun to make her more comfortable. My biggest concern right now is infection (but shes on 2 abs anyway). I have 5 rats total, 2 young ones and 3 that are over 2 years old. For the time being I put the 2 young girls on the bottom of my CN, and the 3 old girls (2 with the large tumors) together on the top- so no one is alone. But I did this because one of the younger ones was picking at that scab..and I didnt want it to be reopened from the little brat picking at her. I hate having them apart..but I'm not sure if that might be the best idea for the time being with that kind of wound? Anyway, rambling...thanks for helping and for your advice!
 
littlematchstick said:
yeah I have 2 rats with large tumors right now...Ive never dealt with tumors before...so this is all new to me. She seems *ok* in the sense..shes giving kisses, taking treats, wandering around. She did what looked like a little bit of a mini *owie stretch*- but I gave her some Childrens Ibprofun to make her more comfortable. My biggest concern right now is infection (but shes on 2 abs anyway). I have 5 rats total, 2 young ones and 3 that are over 2 years old. For the time being I put the 2 young girls on the bottom of my CN, and the 3 old girls (2 with the large tumors) together on the top- so no one is alone. But I did this because one of the younger ones was picking at that scab..and I didnt want it to be reopened from the little brat picking at her. I hate having them apart..but I'm not sure if that might be the best idea for the time being with that kind of wound? Anyway, rambling...thanks for helping and for your advice!


I think you did the right thing by taking the younger girls out then, as long as she is with someone. You can always see how they are tomorrow with each other and maybe they can be put back together then. Or you could put them together and watch to see if they lose interest in the scab, my other girls did when I left my girlie in with them. Up to you.
Sounds like you have everything under control though :) Just relax and be with her and her buddies.
And, I wouldn't worry too much about infection, it has scabbed over already plus she is on the abs. Just watch her... and smell her. You will smell the infection if there is infection.
 
It's been a long time and I'm starting to forget the details :( But I did make a thread at the time, some of your questions should be answered there. I just read the first few posts and was reminded the vet wouldn't give me Baytril (pfft) but I did get it from my regular vet a short time later. I think I still have half a bottle of infant Advil from that time.

viewtopic.php?f=20&t=23752
 
victoria said:
It's been a long time and I'm starting to forget the details :( But I did make a thread at the time, some of your questions should be answered there. I just read the first few posts and was reminded the vet wouldn't give me Baytril (pfft) but I did get it from my regular vet a short time later. I think I still have half a bottle of infant Advil from that time.

viewtopic.php?f=20&t=23752

thanks so much for linking me to your thread, I learned SO much..its giving me hope that maybe its not her time yet. I'm going to give it a few days and see how the wound looks, and see how her personality is. If she's willing to keep fighting, then so am I. Do you think it's wise to clean off that scab? Or just let her clean it/take care of it herself and just give it time and see if it heals on its own? I just see that giant nastiness, and am at a lost of where to go from here..ya know..it's so intimidating when its something you've never dealt with. I've managed to luck out so far on tumors with all my past rats so, it's time to learn something new I guess! I really appreciate you all coming here to help me during the holidays. It's giving me some peace of mind. <3 :hugs:
 
I would flush it with saline two or three times a day. You can dab it dry with gauze or a cotton ball afterward if you like.
 
I would flush it with saline two or three times a day. You can dab it dry with gauze or a cotton ball afterward if you like.

Hi there. I hope you don’t mind me butting in (8 years later), but I have had the same thing happen today and would be keen to read the post you referred to. That link isn’t working for me and I wondered if the original post is still accessible?

Our boy has/had an enormous lump on his neck and on the side of his face. It burst today and there was blood/fluid everywhere. It’s still weeping a little but not visibly (I can see where it’s gone on his bedding, but not actually see it coming out of the wound). The wound/lump itself is kind of indented now.

We rushed him to the vet who said they couldn’t stitch the wound and that we should consider PTS when we are ready. We were going to take him back tomorrow morning but he actually seems happier and less uncomfortable so not sure now if that’s best. He has happily been eating LOADS of different snacks and treats (apple, grapes, cheese, bread, banana, pasta etc) and although he clearly isn’t ok (there’s still some lump and an open wound!), he is more mobile and seems better than he has for days.

He is on Loxicom anyway (0.2 ml per day). Is there anything else we could/should be doing for him? Can we keep him like this or is that cruel? I don’t want him to suffer at all.
 
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