good rat news :D

[ratcreature]

I brought Noah to the vet this afternoon, and it turns out the lump on his back was a blocked sebaceous gland. So I'm now about €24 poorer because my rat basically had an out-of-control pimple. I never had that happen with a rat before, but I guess there's always a first time you run into your pets' health issues. And I'm happy it wasn't anything serious, just gross. (It definitely seemed smaller from the outside, considering how much gunk the vet squeezed out of the thing.)

But Noah was very well behaved and cooperative while the vet first dug around under his skin with a needle and then drained the thing and put on salve. He didn't struggle, and only squeaked once in protest of the treatment. The vet said there is a risk that it might recur if this didn't open the gland's original pore, but I hope not. Anyway I'm relieved that it was something simple.

Comments

[draigwen]

One of our old boys had a lump which turned out to be an ingrowing hair follicle. He did have to be operated on to get rid of it, but yeah, sometimes lumps aren't anything to be too scared of.

[ratcreature]

Yeah, he would have been young for it to be a tumor, and a bit odd place too, but I suspected an abscess because it was in a place on his back where he gets bitten sometimes. My three usually just play-scuffle with no wounds or great drama thankfully, but they still end up with small scabs sometimes. Though it's calmer now that they've mostly outgrown their teenage ruffian phase *g*. But it turns out Leo and Linus were entirely innocent in the affair. I just hope his gland heals unblocked now.

[lilacsigil]

Yay for a healthy rat!

[ratcreature]

Yes. It's always great when the anxious worst case scenarios running through my head do not come true. :D

[bluemeridian]

VERY yay for nothing serious and for a low stress vet visit for Noah!

[ratcreature]

In part I think he was so cooperative because he was stunned by the unfamiliarity of it all, not necessarily not stressed. However the cooked egg I gave as a special treat in the evening went a long way to get me back into his good graces... But yes, I'm really happy that it wasn't serious.

[togsos.livejournal.com]

Yipee for acne rats !!!!

[ratcreature]

Yeah. I mean, it had to be unpleasant for him to have such a swollen and blocked gland (when I get a pimple it already hurts at smaller sizes and expect it's not that different for a rat), but it's much better than some possibilites for lumps on rats.