# Possible Tumour?



## Fraction (Aug 29, 2011)

Flower, who apparently has the worst luck, suddenly has... something... on her lower stomach. She's definitely female, and although my male's cage is beside hers they are not able to be flush up against each other, so she can't be pregnant. It also seems like it's weirdly placed for for pregnancy.

I'm assuming it's a tumour, and in the morning I'm going to get her booked into the vets for their professional opinion. Can anyone tell from the pictures what it is though?


























I've seperated her from her cagemate as her face has been freshly ripped open overnight. Poor mouse.

ETA, the lump is quite firm; I'm wary of pressing too hard on it though. it also looks seperated into four, kind of like a six pack? I've never seen anything like it before.


----------



## MissPorter13 (Jun 20, 2012)

Sorry to hear about you mouse, I've not seen anything like it before though a tumour would be my guess too  I hope your vet or someone on here can shed some light on what it actually is for you and I hope she gets better soon!


----------



## morning-star (Apr 9, 2011)

with a tumour that size I would suggest putting the poor thing down. Iv'e often seen it in mice -it's all downhill from here sadly, and with one that size I doubt if it'll be worth operating on due to its size and most vets wont operate on a mouse.


----------



## Fraction (Aug 29, 2011)

Morning star, does it definitely look like a tumor to you? I've never seen one in person before, so I'm not sure. But based on location and size (and how quickly it grew), if it is a tumor then yeah - I'm pretty sure the vet will suggest operating or pts. I don't think I have the stomach to cull myself.

MissPorter, thanks, I'll update with what the vet says tomorrow.


----------



## Seafolly (Mar 13, 2012)

Wow. I've never seen anything that huge in the groin before. Although I've been known to exhaust every possible treatment before euthanizing, the key part is quality of life. If she's still motoring around I'd wait to euthanize but if she seems hindered I'd say sooner is better than later. One of my own older ladies has a pea size lump on her spine and although she seems fine now, the moment she seems uncomfortable it's to the vet.


----------



## PPVallhunds (Jul 26, 2010)

whenever i get a mouse with a lump i automaticly asume tumor, have had a few over the years and they never turned out to be an abcess or anything else. A chinchilla doe i had got one in that area, it started as a small lump on near the lowest nipple (i barly noticed it) but over a few days it got huge and got in the way her her going to the toilet.


----------



## Fraction (Aug 29, 2011)

Yeah, it was definitely a tumor. The vet said it had been there for a week, he imagined; but even if I missed it over the last couple of days whilst mealworm-feeding, there is no way I missed it when I did my in-depth check about 4 days ago (when I did a full cage clean).

Anyway, the options were either leave it, attempt to operate (even vet advised against this--not that I was considering it, tbh) or pts. I had already decided to pts if it was a tumor, so yeah.


----------



## Seafolly (Mar 13, 2012)

Better too early than too late!


----------



## maddeh (Jul 14, 2011)

Aw, so sorry for your loss  It would have been a very difficult place to operate I would imagine anyway. She was a beautiful mouse


----------



## PPVallhunds (Jul 26, 2010)

Sorry it was bad news.
From reading up on it when my fav rat got one there seemed to be more downsides than up for operating. I defernatly think you made the right desision.


----------



## Fantasia Mousery (Jul 16, 2011)

I've tried this a few times (two or three), and it's never nice. Your vet might be right about it having been there about a week. They start small, and can stay a certain, even unnoticable, size for a long time, and then suddenly it's like they explode in size over a day or two.

I'm sorry about your loss.


----------



## morning-star (Apr 9, 2011)

Sorry for your loss, I've seen tumours pop up that fast before, over various parts of the body, last week I had to put down my best and most loved buck due to a tumour popping up on his backside.

tumours feel hard and lumpy, whilst cysts are supposed to be more soft and semi-squishy.


----------



## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

Ugh. So sorry! *hug*

I had several develop like this in one group of does. Over the course of one night...I am hesitant now to breed the survivors, even though I am very interested in those merle/roan/tri weirdos. I have interest... but I just don't know. *sigh*

One thing that some mousekeepers never get used to is just how quickly things develop in animals whose metabolism is so quick. Often by the time you notice a problem, it's too late to do anything to save them, and even if you do, damage is done and they are no longer fit for breeding.


----------



## Fraction (Aug 29, 2011)

Thanks everyone!

One thing I'm concerned about is that I have three of Flower's sisters. Should I be keeping a vigilant eye on them for anyone else sprouting a tumor?


----------

