4028. A Fancy Rat has a large leg lump. What to do?

A Fancy Rat has a large leg lump which bleeds and grows bigger. (Video 2/2). What to do? Dr Sing Kong Yuen, BVMS (Glasgow). 18 Apr 2022. 

The owner had consulted two vets. One advised leg amputation as a tumour could be suspected. Both gave external cream and disinfectant to apply. The lump enlarged to a large size, looking like a tumour over 2 months. “How was the original lump?” I asked the young lady. “Was it a small skin wart?”

“No, no,” she said. “It was a cut wound, just like what the left hind leg has now.”

Based on the owner's history that the origin of the lump was a cut wound which grew larger in size over the past 2 months ago, I diagnosed a lick granuloma.

A cut wound, if licked frequently and daily over 2 months, can develop into a large mass or lump, looking much like a tumour. If it was a lick granuloma, now 1.5 cm x 1.0 cm x 1.0 cm, it could be excised. There would be no need for leg amputation as the lump would not re-grow if the owner ensured there was no continuous licking  . 

However, it could still be a tumour as I had not seen the cut wounds. The other leg had two 0.5 cm cuts due to the climbing up and getting cut on the cage bars. 

Treatment was surgical excision of the granuloma. I gave Zoletil injection IM and

isoflurane anaesthesia gas. Then the electro-surgical electrode wire sliced off the top

75% of the granuloma. Profuse bleeding like a burst dam. 

I bandaged the operated area. 

A follow up of over the next 4 weeks would be done to see if the lump has recurred. 

Post operation close monitoring to prevent licking of the wound by bandaging the leg

and painkillers were given. The rat dislikes wearing the Elizabethen collar which would

prevent licking of the wound or biting off the bandages.

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