[mopydream44]

Hey everyone. I apologize for my abscence first and foremost. I have found my current job situation pretty draining, and when you add in ratties, apartment upkeep, grad school prep, and life it gets a lil time consuming. Anyhoo I shall try to log on more frequently in the future...........


now to the problem......... All of my ratties are fine, I am asking this question for a person who adopted two of my oops litter in addition to her two beautiful girls. Her two oldest girls are around 6 months old, and one of them have developed a large lump. She took her rattie to a vet but it was disappointing. The vet told her something like it's probably benign but she can't tell for sure what it is without surgery, which will end up costing her between 150 and 250.

this all seems really fishy to me. I remember reading lots of tips about vets, and despite her reassurance to my friend about "having experience with surgery on rats," she does NOT seem to be a good vet, from what I've heard.

warning signs for me
1. can't tell what it is w/out surgery....is this normal?
2. can't give her a direct price

Also her rattie is eating and drinking but my friend says she seems to separate herself from the group a little, and is a bit less active.

I really just want to know what everyone thinks. My friend is really worried about her rattie, and while the 250 IS a bit out of her range I know she wants to do the best for her rat and WILL. I'm just concerned that she has picked a poor vet.

I'm calling my vet today for an estimate on a tumor removal (just in case) and it's a 4 hour drive between us. She is willing to drive quite a distance for good care.........so in addition to what everyone thinks about this situation I would highly appreciate it anyone could recommend a GOOD vet around the area of State College PA.

sorry for the length, and thanks everyone!

{{I edited the title because upon reading it over I decided the title was unintentionally misleading. Sorry mods }}

 

[glindella]

Re: Tumor/Abscess/Vet Info

It seems strange to me that they can't give you a price, even saying 150 unless there are further complications would make more sense then a range.

 

[mopydream44]

Re: Tumor/Abscess/Vet Info

that's how I feel as well. I mean I don't mean to seem untrusting or anything but if it's 250 max then what stops the vet from charging that even if it is a simple procedure?

 

[lilspaz68]

How fast did the lump show up? If it was really fast then it could very well be an abscess since 6 months is very young for tumors to show up.

The vet can do a FNA (fine needle aspiration) to see if its a tumour or an abscess. The surgery range is pretty vague but I would assume its for complications as the anesthesia is the most expensive part. Sadly you can only tell if its benign or malignant after sending the tissue away for a histology (another added expense).

Has your friend ever seen this vet with her rats before?

 

[mopydream44]

How fast did the lump show up?

I'm not sure I'm going to give her a call tonight and get the fine details of the situation.

Has your friend ever seen this vet with her rats before?

No. She's in her college town, so I think she had to take what she could get because she was really worried about her rat.

 

[mopydream44]

I found an exotic vet in her area. The vet she went to see had to look in an exotic pet encyclopedia to give her a diagnosis, and upon her diagnosis decided to give her an 150-250 price range. I'm, quite frankly, burned up with this vet. My friend is really distressed over this.

The vet told her tumors can secrete liquid internally, and my friend thinks the rats belly seems to be filled with liquid.

like I said she is only about 6 months, and I have the rats brother, and my friend owns the rats sister. They are both fine. I dunno really. It's hard for me to explain the situation in great detail because she is so far away.

anyhoo any other thoughts welcome, and I'll try to keep you guys updated.

 

[mopydream44]

ok she went to the alternate vet I found in her area who is actually an exotic vet, and she's getting a flat rate for the surgery. She will only have to pay 100$, and that's not too bad considering it could have been up to 250 (from a good for nothing vet). So anyhoo i'm happy. Thanks for your responses

 

[glindella]

I hope everything works out for your friend. Sometimes its so hard to find a good rat vet :-(

 

[mopydream44]

I'm sorry it took so long to update but I thought I should in case anyone was still interested.

The second vet took her in to remove the tumor but it was attached to her organs, and she didn't make it. It was really terrible. I have not lost a rat yet, as I am still a relatively new rat owner (almost a year now) so I haven't really had to deal with the pain of losing one of my ratties. I really didn't know quite what to say .

I'm still really shocked that she didn't make it because she was so young

Anyhoo I adopted a new rat for her (a powder blue) last month, and I will be bringing her to her new home for thanksgiving.