Taking a hostile rat to the vet?

[Maddie Swift]

Hi,

My rat Dixie has a large tumor right in between her back legs and it is growing everyday. I want to take her to the vet to see about getting it removed or having her put down if it’s too late, but there’s a problem. Dixie does not like to be touched by strangers or picked up. She will try to bite, and it hurts like hell when she does. She has always been this way, which is weird because her sister was extremely friendly and I spent an equal amount of time with them (her sister unfortunately passed away from a respiratory infection). Would there be a way for the vet to restrain her? Or should I just wait until she passes away? I feel cruel letting it get out of control and I feel guilty that she never truly became tame (she runs up when i call her, takes food from me, etc but does not let me pick her up and only sometimes tolerates being touched), even though I think it might have been due to poor breeding or just how she is... Would it be cruel to just let it grow until she passes away? I don’t want her having a hard time but I don’t know if the vet could even do anything...
Thank you

 

[SQ]

she may be ok at the vets because it will be a different situation.
Warn the vet
It s possible that the vet may need to give her a very small amount of gas in order to examine her
but if you go to a good vet with the knowledge and experience to treat rats, they should be used to examining rats that do not want to be touched and they should be able to safely give a tiny amount of gas if it is necessarily

It sounds like you give her good care and respect her boundaries ….. some rats are more independent then others and some only like to be touched on their terms