My beautiful Aida is now 2yrs 9 months. Still going strong. Still no signs of tumors (knocks on wood) it's all my fault for saying that. The next day I saw a tumor the size of a small grape. Now it is 2-3 times bigger in just 1 month. With a whole other month until Xmas I dunno how much longer she has left sad I would like to have it removed. Even though money is pretty tight. But I'm worried about her not surviving the anesthesia. Ideally i'd like to wait until its really affecting her quality of life. Until I start considering euthanasia. However the more I wait, the more weight she loses, the bigger it gets. Her chances of survival go down (and cost goes up).
I have some difficult decisions to make. Like where to have it done. My clinic will offer me a discount in a few weeks but the vet has never done a mass excision on a rat before. They have no anesthesia protocol for rodents. So risk goes way up, but cost is cut in half. My friend suggested a nearby clinic with experience in rodent anesthesia. I guess I can start by calling to ask if they ever do mass excisions on a rat her age and for a general estimate.
The. I'm still holding out hope my school will do it. They anesthetize rats regularly, have a really good anesthetic protocol and two vets with lots of experience in rodent surgery. In a week and a half the lab rats should be gone and I should be allowed to bring my own in for an exam.
On top of that, Aida suddenly has a sensitive stomach confused
I have to be very careful not to give her too many treats or she gets wicked diarrhea. Which sucks cause I'd like to try and fatten her up. That's impossible with the small amount of treats she gets. So far 1-2 almond slivers a day seems to be okay. maybe something more fawning like sunflower seeds would be better.
I mortified the cage so the ladders are now ramps. Added a food bowl on the "bedroom" level and a water bottle. So she doesn't have to go far to eat and drink.
Any other suggestions for keeping my senior rat comfy and healthy?
I cross my fingers and hope every day that she's sees her third christmas and birthday.
Every time she has an itch that she can't reach, or her tumor gets caught as she's trying to get into the litter box. My heart just breaks. This sucks
The Pets and Animals Guild!
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