mouse with tumor?

[jessicastockwell]

Hey everyone,

One of my girls has a large growth on her side thats suddenly appeared. Its quite solid but doesn't seem to bother her at all. Im assuming its a tumor but this is the first one ive had that's developed one. What are others experiences with this? How much longer does she have? Should I have her euthanised. Shes become a bit of a pet rather than just a breeder. Kinda sad to see her like that.

 

[caliherp]

Hey everyone,

One of my girls has a large growth on her side thats suddenly appeared. Its quite solid but doesn't seem to bother her at all. Im assuming its a tumor but this is the first one ive had that's developed one. What are others experiences with this? How much longer does she have? Should I have her euthanised. Shes become a bit of a pet rather than just a breeder. Kinda sad to see her like that.View attachment 294361

I had this happen to me years ago when I bread my own feeders. I chalked it up to inbreeding.(not saying that's the cause here) Just like with any other living thing, stuff can go wrong. As far as time to live I could only guess. I would assume it could be quite uncomfortable. I dont mean to sound heartless but if it were my rodent I would put it out of its misery.(assuming its in pain) Again I don't mean to sound heartless, but to me taking a rodent to the vet wouldn't be high on my priority list. But that is always a option.

 

[Boondocker]

Looks like a mammary tumour; these are commonly seen in older female rodents.

 

[Planky]

I had that about 3 weeks ago. Gasses the few rodents with it and didn't feed them off... Straight to the bin they went

 

[GeckoJosh]

If it suddenly appeared I would say its an infected mammoray gland or a sebaceous cyst.
Whatever it is unless you seek vet treatment then the mouse should be put down immediately, it may not be in extreme pain now but that wont last long at all.

 

[Pythoninfinite]

Boondocker is probably correct - older female mice (and rats) are very prone to mammary tumours. Prognosis is not good, but they often don't seem to be in pain, however they can get so big as to really impede movement, or get infected, so perhaps it's worth considering euthanasia.

Jamie

 

[sharky]

In my honest opinion, euthing is the best option. You can go to the vet and they can probably cut it out (or treat it), but unfortunately most tumours in mice will return within anywere from weeks to months.

Good luck with whatever decision you choose. xx

 

[SnakesGrandad]

Its a tumour. If the mouse is eating and mobile its probably not in too much pain.Could die suddenly or go on for weeks if not months. Cost you at least 150 bucks at the vets to excise but mice usually die during or after the procedure.
My daughter has had pet mice who suffered with this and they all ate and moved up till the very end, and all died naturally from the disease, as they would in the wild.
If you want to minimise any suffering, as soon as its obvious that the mouse is struggling, put it down.

Sad I know.

 

[jessicastockwell]

Thanks for the replies everyone, yes I think the kindest thing to do is to put her down

 

[GeckoJosh]

I recently had a mouse just like this, the lump was full of puss though, would that still be a tumor? (I was told it was most likely a sebacious cyst or an infected mammary gland)

Also I found this info
Mammary Tumors in Small Mammals « LafeberVet.com

 

[Ash1990]

I would also say a mammary tumour, pretty common in older mice, and most tumours in mice are nasty and even if removed will regrow and/or spread (most rat tumours tend to be benign). They tend to deal with them really well, and most times its the size of the tumour that starts to cause problems and not actual tumour nastiness. Sometimes if they get really big the middle can start to die off and you can get an abscess formation on top of the tumour, but I've only had that happen once. I breed the fancy mice and I have a couple of old tans with tumours atm that are still small. I tend to leave them until they annoy the animal or the animal starts to look off colour, then euth. I remove some in my really good breeder females to try and prolong their lives, all have survived surgery, but usually die not long afterwards either due to tumour regrowth or old age related problems. Another possibility is a huge abscess, but I personally have never had a mouse bite abscess reach that size, most are a lot smaller and a soft spot is easy felt. I usually lance and then baytril and have a really good success rate of recovery from abscess bites, though I tend to try and avoid them occurring in the first place.

With an older mouse, and with the size that the tumour has reached I would suggest euthanasia as well, one of the down sides to owning and breeding the little furry guys