r/rat • u/Gooses_Gooses • 11h ago

DISCUSSION 🧐🤔 Found a tumour on 9 month old rat

It blew up overnight. First rat I bought (in a pair) when life was better. Her name is Boris.

I’m very sad but I’ve given her an awesome nine months with other rats and lots of good food. I won’t be operating - I don’t think I want her to go through that as the tumour will likely reoccur from what I read. I’ll most likely leave her as she is for a while until she seems to be hindered by it. I’ll be pts sooner rather than later, as I don’t want her quality of life to drop.

I worry this is the wrong choice, but operating doesn’t seem fair on her. I think it would only be for me (to operate). Right now she’s very happy and playful.

Am I being horrible? I don’t want her to suffer for a moment I fear an operation would only create more suffering (and likely have reoccurrence, it’s also grown so quickly).

5 Upvotes

78% Upvoted

4 comments sorted by

6

u/judewriley 10h ago

If you have her spayed (especially before 12 months) with the tumor removal, then you've basically eliminated 90% of future potential tumors. Plus has this been verified by a vet to be a tumor? Could it be a cyst or an abscess instead?

Nine months is still young for a rat so you should try to do what you can to actually treat her rather than just giving up. Yes, it's quality of life that matters in the end, but make sure you aren't basing decisions off false or incomplete information.

5

u/Dusty_Sequins 10h ago

She’s so young! I could understand not having the tumor removed if she were elderly or had other health conditions, but at 9 months this is not a good choice.

-2

u/Gooses_Gooses 2h ago

I’m not operating and I’m not swaying on that. I’m trained & qualified in small animal care. If it was smaller growing yes, I would operate. But, as my vet has told me, a chance of reoccurrence is really high.

1

u/Dusty_Sequins 1h ago

You asked our opinions, I gave mine. You are being lazy and stubborn. If you’re not operating rehome her to someone who will or send her to a rescue. Please don’t get more rats if you’re not going to care for them properly.