Comments | ratties: Pocket's Plight

40ozslurpee in ratties

Pocket's Plight - Cancer?

Feb 17, 2014 20:36

After several months of recurring abscesses and surgeries (for lack of a better word) the vet's finally decided that IT'S PROBABLY CANCER. They could do another surgery and buy her a few weeks, but we've spent our entire savings on this precious (and I DO mean precious!!!) little creature. And we'd spend more if we knew it would help. She's not ( Read more... )

Comments 7

straydogstarbck February 18 2014, 14:53:11 UTC

Have the abscesses all been in the same place? How have you been treating/healing them, and have you ruled out something like an environmental irritant or immune disorder? If it's possible and cost-effective, you might look into having a biopsy done to determine whether it is cancerous, if that could reasonably affect your course of treatment.

40ozslurpee February 18 2014, 20:58:55 UTC

They've all been in the groin area. They didn't do a biopsy because it would've been $250 extra. I talked with my husband and emailed the vet asking if there's anything we can try before her condition deteriorates any further. She's not even 2 yet, and is happy and healthy otherwise, so I would love for her to overcome this. Feels like we'll need a miracle, though!

nellorat February 20 2014, 05:44:07 UTC

I understand about the money stuff, believe me, but a biopsy could still be worth it--& even a culture if the biopsy suggests it's infection. We just spend a little over $1000 on our boy Eduardo; a local vet said it was probably cancer, but a specialist and biopsy showed it was necrotic tissue & infection, and after the right antibiotic (thanks to a culture) he's OK ( ... )

40ozslurpee February 20 2014, 18:44:44 UTC

My husband has insisted that we don't euthanize her, but I think if things get bad he'll change his mind. Pocket is the only thing in our lives right now that makes all our problems just melt away instantly. That's how sweet she is! She is on metacam and Baytril and is still acting mostly normal, but I can hardly enjoy my time with her because I'm overwhelmed by sadness. I can totally accept that rats have short lives, but Pocket's still 2 months shy of turning two so I was really hoping she'd make it at least that far. I guess she still could but I can't be optimistic. I finally have plenty of money so I could afford pretty much any procedure, but the vet says there's not really anything they can do...so I'm not sure if I'll be able to convince them to them to try something anyways. I think I'd rather she die on the operating table than slowly and painfully, I mean if she's gonna die anyways ( ... )

Thread 5

lucyskydiamonds February 22 2014, 17:54:34 UTC

OMG that face. That is just amazing. Her reaction is so cute.

I had a female rate a few years ago who developed a huge tumor on her belly, and it became an open sore. I kept her around for a few weeks on pain killers and keeping it clean, but eventually my vet convinced me that she was in a considerable amount of pain and it was time to euthanize.

40ozslurpee February 23 2014, 00:39:17 UTC

I'm not exactly sure what Pocket has. She's had lumps which were probably tumors causing the open sores, but this time it wasn't caused by a lump. It just happened again. She's still acting normally but the worst part is not knowing how long she has. She's one of the best things in my life and I didn't want to say goodbye to her until she'd lived a full one with us. It's been a good one, though! That's all I can say, I guess.