Pea-Sized Lump

Advertise with us
Shop with us on Ebay
Fins us on Amazon
The Rat Shack Forum

Help Support The Rat Shack Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
J

Jherek

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 22, 2008
Messages
216
Location
KW Ontario
I have somehow, up to this point, be lucky enough to never dealt with tumours/cysts. But I just took my one boy Oliver out and noticed a pea-sized lump on his back on the hind end near the leg. It doesn't seem to be fixed, it moves under the skin. I have no experience with tumours and cysts at all and have no idea of this is something to even worry about or not. Should he be going straight to the vet on Monday or should I watch to see if it changes for a few days? :(

Edit - ok from what I can find, it sounds like it's just a cyst? Is it painful for them? And should they be drained/removed immediately, or only if gets worse?
 
Okies :)

start off with warm (almost hot) damp compresses on the lump twice a day if possible. If its low on his hip maybe you can do a sitz bath instead? Works faster then compressing in my opinion. Its the warmth and damp that brings it to a head.

Beni getting soaked for his neuter abscess
Beni-dowereallyhaveto.jpg


once it bursts you will have to start getting the matter out by gently squeezing at the base, then flushing it out with a solution (I use isotonic saline solution I make up). Then you have to keep the abscess cavity open and clean, flushing twice a day if possible, softening any scab that forms...you need an abscess to heal from the inside out, so never use healing ointments on it or let it scab over right away. A bit of that pus or nasty stuff could be healed over and then the abscess would recur. Keep flushing until its healing up to the surface. :)
 
Oh thank god.. that's better than I was expexting haha. :p Ok, I'll start that right now. Thanks so much for your help. Like I said, I've been so lucky in this regard and since this is the first time, I was panicky. Har har.
 
Are you able to tell if it has color to it? i.e. is it a bit on the redish/pink side? Or does it appear to be the same color of his skin? Cysts are usually right near the surface and a bit on the flat side, more than round and they can actually look like a wart. Abscesses are more round and you might notice them to be pinkish in color.

Was he recently in a scuffle with another? Are you able to see a scab or evidence of a scratch or bite on the lump? If so, it's probably more likely an abscess.

Although males certainly can get tumors....I might not be too concerned just yet about a tumor.

Many will have different opinions on how to treat it, if it's an abscess. But my personal opinion would be to watch the lump. If it doubles in size overnight, I'm guessing it's probably an abscess and I would take him to the vet if you can. They will lance it, drain it, flush it (we use Chlorohexidine solution diluted with warm water), then pack it with neosporin. Your vet can also give you antibiotics (Cefa is really good for skin infections). We actually continue the flush and pack method at home for a few days, because otherwise, it can scab over and allow infection to come back.

Now, if it is a cyst, more times than not, it will work it's way to the surface, and eventually just come right off. You'll see a bit of a hole left behind, but a bit of neosporin there, and they usually heal right up.

Of course, if it does end up being a tumor, then a vet is needed too. But I would personally recommend waiting another day and watch for what I mentioned above. You should know very quickly if it's an abscess.
 
No fighting, and there's no marks on or near the lump. It showed up overnight. It's not coloured at all, just his regular skin colour. This is a round little lump/ball beneath the skin.
 
It could be a small cyst and may never grow any bigger or it can be an abscess. I treat all small lumps as if it were an abscess. If it grows fast, then it's off to the vet.
My Rylee has a big lump on his back, about the size of a marble. I don't like the location nor the feel of it. He's going in on Monday.
 
jorats said:
It could be a small cyst and may never grow any bigger or it can be an abscess. I treat all small lumps as if it were an abscess. If it grows fast, then it's off to the vet.
My Rylee has a big lump on his back, about the size of a marble. I don't like the location nor the feel of it. He's going in on Monday.
Click to expand...
 
I apologize again Jo - I read your post yesterday and LA's later on, and had read about her dog Riley before and just wasn't thinking. :doh: I hope your boy's ok.

Oliver did not like getting his tush soaked. :lol: My girls get to play with water all the time but the boys haven't been here long enough and are still just freaked out by it, so right now my arms are a bit damaged. :lol: It's probably a little bit larger today, maybe between the size of a pea and a chickpea (medical jargon, lol). There's still no colour to it and it moves under the skin. I've been doing a warm compress instead. I will take pictures tonight and tomorrow and post to compare, and will post a picture of it shortly.
 
I just checked on my mom's rat Ross and he's got something similar on his shoulder. I can put my fingers all around, it seems to be attached to the skin only. Is that similar to your boy? Mamarat has started warm compresses as well. Let's see who pops first. lol
 
My bandit as an abscess it just burst last night right before I was ready to crash (after being on the road all day up to halifax). I had no idea how to flush it out. Is their anything I could use to flush it out. I had no idea what I was doing last night. I did take him to the vet for this but they just gave me Hibitane for it (that was when the scab was still on there) I did press gently on it to see if any puss would come out but he's so wormy it's hard to do that and seems like I'm hurting when I do. it looks like theirs still some puss in their. Any advice on what I should do? would it be ok if I kept using the Hibitane?
 

Latest posts

Back
Top