My old rat's tumor fell off but is hanging by skin. What should I do?

Question

Hi there I’ve had a pet female rat for 3years now. A year ago she started to get a tumour above her belly that then turned necrotic, nothing could be done as she’s too old. However, the tumour seems to of pushed itself out and hanging by a small piece of skin... is this even possible? There seems to just be healed scaring underneath. She’s eating, drinking, cleaning and even making her bed as usual. im just not sure what to do as I’ve tried googling but nothing similar is coming up. Thank you. Pet's info: Small Animal | Rat | Female | unspayed | 3 years and 1 month old | 0 lbs

Miranda Sadar, DVM, DACZM · Accepted Answer

Thank you for your question about Shadow. The most common tumors that occur in the belly/leg regions of rats are mammary tumors. Based on the location that you described, this may be the case with Shadow. The reason I bring this up is because it is very common for these tumors to be like a ball under the skin, and only have a small string of tissue that connects it to the body. So, when they are removed surgically, they shell out very easily once the skin has been cut. There is the potential that after the skin become necrotic that the tumor was able to "fall out" of the defect left in the skin. The other alternative is that it could be becoming very heavy and stretching the areas of skin to make it appear like it has pushed itself out. I would recommend taking Shadow back to your veterinarian, as they may be able to remove this more easily now. This may be a good idea regardless, due to the necrotic tissue that you had described. I didn't see if that was still present now, but they can provide her with antibiotics, if they are indicated, at the same time. I hope that helps to answer your question, and congratulations on having a three year old rat. It says a lot about your care of her.

My old rat's tumor fell off but is hanging by skin. What should I do?

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