[Oriane]

Magic has a malignant tumour on her groin. The skin has split open slightly in one place above it. She is still eating but she does appear in pain. I'm not sure. She's puffed up and eating newspaper. She's very still. What are my options?

 

[Wieju]

The only option I see is a visit to the vet asap...

 

[Oriane]

I guess I wasn't too clear. I meant what should I do at the vets. Antibiotics, anything else I could ask them or should I have her put to sleep?

 

[aliceinwonderland]

The vets will probably be the best ones to evaluate the situation and advice you on your options. Is the tumor removable?

 

[DustyRat]

Either you should have the tumor removed, or pts would be my guess.

 

[Minky]

Maybe it's just an abcess??

 

[Jaguar]

If you can't have it removed, it might be time to start thinking about having her PTS. Once it starts splitting or getting sores, it will soon get worse to the point where the tissue goes necrotic and becomes infected.

 

[Oriane]

I think I was in denial at the time I wrote this. Magic first had a tumour removed in the beginning of January. It grew back in a month. She had it removed again and sent off for examination. It came back showing it was malignant. I started her on tamoxifen a week later however she wasn't entirely compliant. Now basically this malignant tumour started growing back almost immediately. It had been just over 2 weeks and it grew back so fast it made her skin split. Which is what I posted about.

I woke up in the morning 6am to find her tumour had split her skin slightly and I panicked and made this thread for advice. I actually decided that I would put her to sleep and took her to the vets at 10am.

I hope to God I made the right decision. I wish I had done things differently. I wish I had gotten her spayed, or started medication earlier or tried a different medication. I wish I hadn't let her get so fat. Maybe I should have operated again. Maybe I should have just started her on antibiotics and pain killers to see if the skin would close and give the tamoxifen time to work. I really don't know.
I wish I had cuddled her more.
I don't think she wanted to go. Her heart was so strong. It took 2 injections for her to sleep

I suppose I should be writing this in the rainbow bridge section. Sorry for rambling

 

[000k]

I am sorry to hear Magic didn't make it. It sounds like you did all you could, and I'm sure you extended her life and gave her many happy weeks. My 2.5 year old boy recently grew a tumor, and I've been agonizing about what to do. After some helpful advice, I've decided to have him PTS once I see signs that his quality of life has gone down. For all it's worth, I think you made the right decision.

 

[Minky]

So sorry for your loss

PS - It's so normal to blame yourself after you lose your rat. You don't need to be so hard on yourself, it sounds like she was terminally ill and you saved her a lot of suffering down the road.