Are tumors in rats always deadly?

I have a rat with a small mammary tumor. Everything I have read so far indicates that without surgery, the tumor will definitely grow so big, she will either die of it or have to be euthanized.





Do some rats have tumors that by chance stop growing, and never become much of a problem?





Or, without surgery, is this her death sentence?Are tumors in rats always deadly?
In my experience they have been.


I have had 4 rats die of tumors- 3 females and one male.


The male 'Fagin's' tumor was so small to begin with that we didnt even realise that he had one. It was in his leg- one day he went lame and a vet said that he had sprained it and he would be right in a couple of weeks. A month went by with no change- then he got sick all of a sudden. Went back to the vets and it was discovered he had a large tumor on his leg. He was already dying by that stage so we decided to euthenase him.





I had tumors removed from two of my females who grew small tumors. One had a tumor grow back within a couple of weeks and needed to be euthenased. The other lasted a whole year before she got another tumor and died.


My other female was fine one day- then had a tumor half her body weight pop up the next day. Really wasnt a tough decision to put her down because there was no way that anybody could operate on her.


Basically- if you have a tumor removed- most of the time they will come back. It is pot luck whether they come back fast- or if it takes a while. I think it is worth the operation just for that chance to give them a longer life.





For future reference- female rats have a 90% chance of developing mammary tumors.


When they are desexed- this chance drops dramatically- only 10% chance of getting mammary cancer.


Well worth the risk in surgery and cost if you ask me.


I certainly wont be keeping rats again unless they are desexed at the start.


Good luck with her- I hope she has a long life!Are tumors in rats always deadly?
I've had rats with tumors that never stopped growing and resulted in death, and rats that develop a tumor that grows to a certain size and stops. Some will do perfectly fine with the tumors that quit growing, but the growing tumors will kill them. I wouldn't let the tumor get too big - get the surgery if you don't think it will stop growing. Good luck.
i've had both. sometimes the tumor gets huge, stops, then heals and never comes back so my baby dies of old age. or i've also had tumors grow, stop, and then my baby dies of it:(


i've also had it where a cyst starts growing so my baby has a huge lump under his skin. sometimes it turns into a tumor sometimes it disappears. rats are weird animals but i love them:) i hope your baby does ok:(
Tumors inn rats and hamsters ';and other rodents'; are Very common when they get older. This is just how it is. And it just shows that they are old.. But if they are under 1 year its fixable.. Take him/her to surgery and get it removed.. But it may die.. But its better to use anti-biotic.. But its Very deadly yes.


Sorry for my bad english..


Im norwegian lol..
tumors grow so you take it to surgery or take it to the vet so they can inject to kill her and that way she would not suffer so much with the tumor if you dont want do take her to surgery... if you take her to surgery there are much more possibilities she survives than without surgery because tumors dont go away by their own
Tumors do not stop growing once they have formed. However tumor removal is a common surgical procedure and is relatively inexpensive. Call the exotic pet vets in your area and check for prices. The best thing is to have it taken care of before it starts bothering her.