Lumps?

[Melissa's ZOO]

I have 2 girls with lumps.

Lilly, I estimate is about 15 months give or take and she has a small marble size lump in her armpit. It is squishy, move able and it does not bother her for me to touch it, no wound or lost hair. Some days it looks like it is getting bigger and on other days it looks like it is getting smaller. She acts like herself, but she is more affectionate and seems to sleep a little more than usual.

Ivy, I estimate to be a year old in October give or take a few months. She has a nickle sized (kind of flat) lump on her belly next to one of her teats (not sure what they are called on rats) it is also squishy, movable and she doesn't care if I mess with it, no wound or lost hair. Hers however has not grown or shrunk. She acts no different same old Ivy pop corny as can be and happy. She had a permanent head tilt when I bought her but it does not bother her, she is actually my agility rat she climbs on everything.

Any thoughts?

It sucks because in Tulsa I have found one vet that does rats and I really do not care for him. When I asked about spaying my girls he said it was pointless and that it did not help prevent tumors. I do however have a vet I used to work for that I took a rescue boy to be neutered, he says he treats rat on occasion and he is super cheap $50.00 for the neuter and he did a good job no lumps and he healed nicely. I thought about taking them into him just as a (get to know him and his rat knowledge) consultation since these are not life threatening problems right now.

 

[Lise]

They both sound like mammary tumors.

If you do decide that you would like to get them removed, it is better to do them now while they are small, and well encapsulated with a small blood supply.

 

[jorats]

I would also suggest getting them spayed at the same time. It would help in reducing the recurrence of more.

 

[ratswentberserk]

Could also be an abscess especially is they're squishy

I wish all the best to your girls

 

[Melissa's ZOO]

Yeah, we are going to the vet this evening. The office visit is just $41.00 for both of them. So that is not to bad and I will go ahead and have them spayed since will be under anyways.

He is a new vet so I really want to get a feel for how much he knows before I jump into surgery.

 

[jorats]

That's very wise. You could also ask him how many rat surgeries he's done in the past.

 

[Melissa's ZOO]

I will definitely ask how many he has done thanks :thumbup:

 

[Melissa's ZOO]

So we went to the new vet on Friday. He seemed like he knew what he was doing, but, get this, he not only charged me $82.00 for 10 minutes but he wanted $250 to $300 to do a tumor removal per rat. COME ON. So I paid the $82.00 even though I was completely unsatisfied.

So, I went to see Dr. Cody. He did my male rats neuter. Not only did he not charge me to see the girls he will remove each tumor for $50 a piece, he said he was not sure about doing a spay at the same time but that he would see how each does under anesthesia. He said that he really does not like having rats under for that long as he likes to get them in and out ASAP and he wants to concentrate on getting the tumors thoroughly removed. And he said that if I decided once they were healed to do the spay he would just charge $50 for the spay which would cost the same if he did the tumor and spay together ($100)

So they go in for surgery together on October 5. It could have been sooner but I really want to have it done on a Friday so that I can be with them all weekend and make sure nothing goes wrong.

 

[jorats]

It baffles me how some vets over charge. My vet does charge a lot but she's the only exotic vet in my city and I wouldn't trust any other vet here to put my rats under their knife.

I too would pay over $300 for a tumour removal, spays are $250.

 

[chicky82]

I've gotten very distrusting of vets, it seems like the good ones are hard to fine and are expensive and even the others are expensive and tend not to be good at all
I had a girly rat go in for a mammary tumor removal (it was benign) the vet charged over $250 for it plus vet costs, my little girl never woke up :cry: but this idiot was so proud that he removed the tumor that he was determined to show me even though I was crying my eyes out :evil: I refused but my bf went just to shut him up. They didn't even call me when she passed, I waited the obligatory time then called them to see if she made it and they said "nope, she died" just like that!!! This vet does not deserve to practice on small animals even though they say they do doesn't mean they should. If anyone asked me about that vet, I would say and empathetic NO!!!!!
My sweet bf paid for the surgery because he knew how much I loved my girly rat but he's said that he just can't pay for anymore rat surgery because it's just too hard and they usually don't make it I understand his point of view and it's ok. :ranton:
I hope everything turns out good for your babies :thumbup: and that those children exposed to the wonders of pet rats grow up to be caring, knowledgeable, inexpensive small animal vets

 

[jorats]

Chicky, was this a vet in North Bay?
If you are back in North Bay and you ever need anything done to your ratties, I'd recommend the drive to Sudbury to see my vet.

 

[Melissa's ZOO]

It just seems to me that if a vet is going to charge that much, he must not want to do the surgery at all and that is his way of deterring you from doing it. I think that they should be sympathetic to how we feel about our animals and that for most people money is a really big issue. I mean does it really cost them that much to do a simple surgery. I mean think about Dr. Cody is only charging me $50.00 that means that surgery materials probably only cost about $10.00 so in one hour he is making $80.00 when the other vet would be making $500 to $600. I just do not see how that is possible.

Dr. Cody did are really good job with my male, he was really groggy when I picked him up, but he had no bleeding or lumps where the incision was, so I keep my fingers crossed with the girls that their surgery goes well. I will be an absolute wreck till I get the call that everything went well.

 

[Melissa's ZOO]

I agree with Jorats sometimes a drive to a really good vet it so worth it.

I cannot believe that the vet charged you for the surgery when she died. I have worked with several vets and every one of them have told the owners that there was no charge since their pet did not make it and almost all of them would let the owners know that there were complications but that they want to talk to them face to face and explain what happened, not just nope she did not make it. That vet sounds heartless and cold.

Plus most of the vets here offer a cremation service so you can keep your pets forever. My baby Sweet Pea was cremated and I have an urn big enough for all of my girls that way they will be together even in death. And my family knows that when I go I want my animals to go with me so we will be together forever.(kind of morbid, but you have to think ahead)

I hope you never have to go through that again with another furkid and a vet.

 

[Moon]

Chicky, that is so horrible and sad

Melissa, I think it's great that you can put your trust into this vet, and that he's charging you so little to boot! It sounds like he's being very honest regarding his experience.

 

[Lise]

A lump removal here is $290 and I have no problem with that. Just because it is surgery on a rat doesn't mean they don't need to be paying a tech to be there monitoring (approx. $15/hr), paying for the surgeons time, equipment, inducing anesthesia and monitoring as they come out, pre-anesthetic drugs, anesthetic drugs, pain meds, possible SQ fluids etc.

There is no real reason why it should be any cheaper than a lump removal on a dog/cat, except for perhaps a lesser volume of drugs used.

 

[Moon]

A lump removal here is $290 and I have no problem with that. Just because it is surgery on a rat doesn't mean they don't need to be paying a tech to be there monitoring (approx. $15/hr), paying for the surgeons time, equipment, inducing anesthesia and monitoring as they come out, pre-anesthetic drugs, anesthetic drugs, pain meds, possible SQ fluids etc.

That is, IF you don't consider the amount they charge for a lot of drugs highway robbery....

 

[Lise]

That is, IF you don't consider the amount they charge for a lot of drugs highway robbery....

I don't know the industry standards but the clinic I work at (and where I had my lump removal done) we charge 1.4x the cost of drugs. I don't consider that robbery at all...

If there was no mark-up then how would the clinic be able to pay the vets and techs, as well as maintain the surgery equipment that needs to be in perfect shape, pay for the x-ray machine, ultrasound machine, etc etc etc.

Don't get me wrong I have complained about the cost of vet expenses just as much as everyone else (knock on wood it has been good around here lately, but I am still hurting from the year I put down $2000 at the vets) but I know that there are reasons why it isn't cheap.... and if we got everything for the price we "think" we should have to pay then the business would never survive.

 

[Moon]

Sorry Lise, I wasn't very clear. I was speaking more about the hugely high costs of drugs from the drug companies, not just the clinic markup.

 

[jorats]

A lump removal here is $290 and I have no problem with that. Just because it is surgery on a rat doesn't mean they don't need to be paying a tech to be there monitoring (approx. $15/hr), paying for the surgeons time, equipment, inducing anesthesia and monitoring as they come out, pre-anesthetic drugs, anesthetic drugs, pain meds, possible SQ fluids etc.

There is no real reason why it should be any cheaper than a lump removal on a dog/cat, except for perhaps a lesser volume of drugs used.

I totally agree. But what I don't understand is how can one vet charge so little? Could it be because they don't offer the same level of care? or experience?

I remember once, being on another forum people were all saying they didn't want to bring their rats to the vet because it was far too expensive. I was defending the $300 for tumour removal. I told them, when you think about it, you'll pay that price for a root canal. It stands to reason that surgery should be equally as expensive.

 

[user 78]

I totally agree. But what I don't understand is how can one vet charge so little? Could it be because they don't offer the same level of care? or experience?

I remember once, being on another forum people were all saying they didn't want to bring their rats to the vet because it was far too expensive. I was defending the $300 for tumour removal. I told them, when you think about it, you'll pay that price for a root canal. It stands to reason that surgery should be equally as expensive.

I don't think that's always the case. My vet is incredible, and I've never had any issue with her that would make me want to stop going to her. She used staples for Mac and Penn's spay, but was more than willing to talk to me about using just glue next time. She's got excellent prices, too. It's $75/spay, and she has said that the price for a tumor removal isn't that much more. I get my meds at a very decent cost [Baytrill pills around $28 for 3 weeks for 3 rats] and she's actually very knowledgeable about rats.

The first vet I took Mac and Penn to when they were babies, he was bloody awful. It was $120 for a 10min exam where he told me medicating was pointless and they're just rats who are going to die soon anyhow. Spays were pointless, and they'll probably die anyways. Then it was another $40 or so for Trimeth-Sulfa abs which were useless and tasted utterly vile. I got their name from several rat sites, raving about how excellent the entire clinic was. How great their surgeries were, how nice the people, etc.. I never went back there again. I wouldn't have balked much at the price since I've had to spend the same on either of my cats at points, but the care and relations were seriously lacking.

So, I can see why you would pay that much for your vet. I've heard stories and she sounds utterly amazing. A very good vet. But if she charged lower prices, she would be just as good.