Small pink lump on lower belly

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Lily Jones

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So, this is my first post on here but I figured I’d ask about something I noticed on my sweet girl, Venus. I got Venus with her sister, Neptune, last April from a local pet store. Yes, I know to try to avoid pet stores but it was a mom and pop store so I felt a little safer getting my girls from there. Venus is about a year old now and I lifted her up last week and noticed a small pea sized bump very low on her belly next to one of her nips. She seemed to have little white dots on the tip of that nipple and the one above. The little lump was pink and looked a little tender which is what initially made me believe she got into a scuffle with a cagemate. I’ve been keeping an eye on it and she seems to be her usual self but in her back legs she’s a little unbalanced. The lump has grown a little bit since last week. I’ve had experience with abscesses as her sister had one behind one of her ears back in the fall. Could this be a cyst or abscess? Maybe even a blocked milk duct? I really don’t want it to be a tumor but I’m coming to terms with the reality that it might be. Any thoughts?
 
I’m sorry I couldn’t get a photo, she’s a wild one. I couldn’t get her still long enough for more than one picture
 

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Does it feel like a cyst? Like is it attached to the skin but can easily be lifted with the skin off of other body structures? Or does it feel like it’s attached to the underlying muscle?
 
I find it hard to tell much from the photo. But if the lump persists, and especially if it grows any further, I'd err on the side of caution and take an early trip to the vet. You want to make sure it isn't some kind of cancer such as a mammary adenocarcinoma. I lost one relatively young girl to this kind of cancer - my vet attempted surgery but we caught it too late. It spread very quickly from the skin to internal tissues and ultimately the lungs. Within two weeks of me spotting the small bump she was gone. In a second case, I rushed a girl to the vet immediately on seeing a tiny raised spot and it too was found to be an adenocarcinoma; this time the vet was able to remove all the malignant tissue and my girl lived to a grand old age.
I don't mean to be an alarmist, and your lump may well be a cyst or something else that is entirely benign. But my experience has made me hypervigilant.
 
Is it round and pink and slightly bare skin? Isn't growing fast? If so it might be a very benign localized mass. I've seen these mostly on older rats. If it grows, becomes lumpy though, get her to a vet.
 
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