What do I do with a dying rat?

September 14, 2013 12:10 PM

My pet rat has a giant, growing tumor and I'm unsure what to do about it.

I have two pet rats that were given to me by a friend who moved out of the city. One of them has developed a mammary tumor that is growing rapidly. I don't know a lot about these things besides that tumors are very common in rats, but I really don't imagine she'll live much longer given that she's already 2 years old. She seems to be otherwise healthy, but how do I know, it's a rat.

So...what do I do with her? The problem is that I seem to fall outside the spectrum of most rat owners...I like them alright but when it comes down to it, they're just rats. I've done a little googling and most rat "resources" take a little more empathetic view of these animals than I do, I guess.

I'm not going to take it to a vet -- I can't afford to take myself to the doctor. I read this previous answer, but this is not a wild animal.

I've heard rather macabre reports that labs usually "euthanize" their rats by pulling their tails so hard the back breaks. I'm, uh, NOT going to do this.

Sleeping pills in peanut butter? Just keep it til it dies in the cage? Set it free in the forest and let nature work things out?

TL;DR My rat is dying and I don't know what to do. I need a solution somewhere between rat hospice care and hitting it with a frying pan.

posted by hafehd to Pets & Animals (24 answers total)

IAAV, IANYV. I do work with lab rats (and that's not how we euthanize them, except on very, very rare occasions, and only very, very little ones because 1) yuk, and 2) a full grown rat is a really strong tube of muscle and good luck with the tail yanking thing).

I think if you call around to your local vets and say that you have financial issues and you are just looking for a humane, kind euthanasia for your pet rat, I bet you won't be charged a lot, if at all. A dose of euthanasia solution is pennies, and it's a simple intraperitoneal injection in a rat.
posted by marmot at 12:25 PM on September 14, 2013 [4 favorites]

To be honest, there aren't many more humane ways to kill a rat than a well-made spring trap. The rat dies pretty much instantly.
posted by pipeski at 12:28 PM on September 14, 2013

Best answer: This may cost less than you fear to handle professionally and humanely: ~$15 at full price in my experience. Seconding calling a few vets.
posted by Monsieur Caution at 12:39 PM on September 14, 2013 [2 favorites]

I had a rat once that had the same thing. I waited until it looked like it was compromising her happiness (it seemed like she didn't even notice it for longer than I thought), and then I took her to my local training vet hospital where for $30 (if I remember right) a large flock of interns watched seriously and soberly while the vet took care of her very nicely. It was worth my piece of mind. I've since had to"see out" a cat and dog and I think that was in the neighborhood of a hundred or two but involved more medical opinions and frou-ferrah, so I would never expect a vet to charge very much for a rat. As others have said, just call a couple places. Vets are not mercenary.
posted by dness2 at 1:27 PM on September 14, 2013 [1 favorite]

You may not have feelings one way or the other, but you took ownership of this animal, and you are responsible for its well-being. To humanely euthanize your pet is something you're really going to have to pay for. Euthanasia for such a small animal isn't very expensive, and it's really the only way to go.
posted by xingcat at 1:30 PM on September 14, 2013 [16 favorites]

It doesn't sound like the rat is suffering. You may not need to do anything. Rats can often live comfortably with fairly large mammary tumors (based on my anecdotal evidence from 15 years of rat ownership).

However, many vets will humanely euthanize a suffering animal pretty much at cost, so call around. Don't call emergency vets. DO call exotic vets. They're used to the dilemma many people face when figuring out what to do with a $5 pet that usually sells as reptile food.

If the rat needs to be euthanized, and a vet bill is not an option, take it to a shelter.

If we knew where you were, we could offer more specific suggestions.
posted by nobejen at 1:35 PM on September 14, 2013 [4 favorites]

Nthing call a vet. Doesn't need to be an exotic vet. The clinic I used to work at could euthanize rats, but we wouldn't see them for health problems as we just specialized in dogs and cats. The charge for a rat euthanasia is typically under $20, and is the most humane.
posted by asranixon at 2:53 PM on September 14, 2013

Don't try to euthanize the rat yourself, your description of how it's done is totally wrong, you have no idea what you're doing, and it's highly unethical to be doing such things without proper training and oversight. I can understand why you don't want to see a vet for treatment etc and I think that's fine as long as your pet isn't suffering in the meantime. Keep an eye on when the tumour is compromising her quality of life, which could be a while or could be now as it depends on the type of tumour and how invasive it is and rats can be surprisingly resilient. Then when it's a problem call a professional as others are suggesting, you should be able to find a vet able to do a humane job for not much money. That's the only ethical way forward here.
posted by shelleycat at 3:09 PM on September 14, 2013 [3 favorites]

I know a snake owner that euthanise rats with CO2. He had a cylinder of it and would very slowly over half an hour add gas to a bucket cage he had rigged with the rats in until they basically went to sleep, there is a skill to doing it thougth and the Cylinder though would probably cost more than the vet. If you really can't afford the $20 or so for a vet to put it down, please take it to an animal shelter (pound) or the humane society, they will very likely just put the animal straight down, some charge a surrendering fee though so you might want to look into that before hand. Having said that I've owned rats on and off for years as pets and they are prone to mammary tumors and can live quite a while with them before they become a problem and cause pain or get in the way.
posted by wwax at 3:58 PM on September 14, 2013

Please don't euthanize an animal with CO2, it's a notoriously unpleasant way to die -- supposedly CO2 triggers the choking reaction while other gases like nitrogen don't.
posted by wayland at 4:27 PM on September 14, 2013 [3 favorites]

The suggestions to call a vet are good, but this is something I'd probably just do myself.

I'd use a very sharp knife to cut off its head. Way less chance of screwing it up than bludgeoning or a jury-rigged gas chamber. Hold the rat against a board, put the knife across its neck, and cut with a firm stroke. You're slicing, not chopping. Animal skin can be quite tough, so it's important that the knife is extremely sharp.

It won't be as tidy as a veterinarian's shot, but whatever pain the rat experiences will be extremely short.
posted by ryanrs at 6:11 PM on September 14, 2013

Please don't release it into the wild. If it grew up as a pet it will be confused and terrified and lonely and might take a while to die (horribly, probably). Rats are smart.

My vet used to charge $5 for rat euthenasia.
posted by lollusc at 7:11 PM on September 14, 2013 [1 favorite]

Going to a vet is still the #1 best way to do it, but as a do-it-yourself alternative, if you have access to a car: I have euthanized wild mice (caught in a regular snap-trap, but not expired) by moving them in a plastic bag, then holding the bag slightly open (enough to let in the carbon monoxide) underneath the exhaust pipe. They stop trying to escape pretty quickly, and it doesn't take long for them to pass on. Make sure you're not gassing yourself in the process, but it seems pretty painless to the rodent. I am sorry to hear about your rat's health problems; rats are excellent pets, it's too bad they don't live long, health problems or not.
posted by AzraelBrown at 7:23 PM on September 14, 2013

I worked for a vet that did not see exotics, but could euthanize a hamster or rat when called upon. It was done using anesthetic gas, I believe. The rat just went to sleep. I was a rat owner at the time and it appeared to be a very humane way to euthanize. It was also very inexpensive, and I believe once he did it for free when the owner was in financial straits because it was not a process that took a lot of time, effort, or special materials.
posted by PussKillian at 7:30 PM on September 14, 2013

Please do not kill your pet using any of the at home methods being suggested in this thread, they are inhumane. When the time comes, you need a professional.
posted by shelleycat at 7:55 PM on September 14, 2013 [11 favorites]

Best answer: As others have noted, rats are extremely adaptable creatures and can function even with the tumor for quite a while before it noticeably impacts their happiness. Especially if another healthy rat is with her, there is no need to euthanize just because of the tumor, as the other rat should be able to help her with grooming and such that will become more difficult for her as time goes on.

I owned a rat with very large mammary tumors, although I was able to afford a vet. That said, there really wasn't anything that the vet could do about it as she was too old to operate on. So, here's how it played out for me. My rat's tumor grew to be around a quarter of the size of her body before she died, though she was able to get around even with the large lump for all but the last few weeks of her life. As her mobility decreased, I would be sure to remove upper ramps and hanging/climbing toys from her cage and lowered the one ramp and loft that I did keep in the cage before she died. If you still have a healthy rat in the cage with her, you probably shouldn't go so far as I did to remove climbing toys, but make sure that she has easy access to food and water even with her limited mobility. As the tumor progressed, this meant using a low-sided small bowl for food, and putting it on the ground floor. If you use a water dispenser, you should also make sure that it's available from the ground floor in easy reach, or use a dish for the water as well. My rat eventually got to the point where she was unable to move, in which case I put her on a soft piece of cloth with food and water right next to her where she could still scoot to reach. My plan was to get her euthanized soon, but she died only a few days later before I could take her to the vet.

I want to strongly advise you against euthanizing your rat in-home. Please, call around to vets or animal shelters to advise you of any low-cost options for euthanasia, as euthanizing in-home is going to be terribly inhumane for anyone inexperienced with it. If this does not yield any fruit (which would honestly surprise me), at least make her final days comfortable and allow her to pass on her own.

Feel free to memail me if you have any other questions.
posted by Aleyn at 9:40 PM on September 14, 2013 [6 favorites]

"Carbon dioxide is acceptable for euthanasia..."

2000 Report of the American Veterinary Medical Association Panel on Euthanasia
posted by Exchequer at 10:09 PM on September 14, 2013

Also, you might look for forums among those rat resource sites you mention and present your problem there, as they will be able to advise you better than I will (as I've only owned rats once, and a lot of them have owned them for much longer). You might even be able to find someone near you that will take them off your hands. This list is probably a good place to start, and this forum looks particularly promising.
posted by Aleyn at 10:15 PM on September 14, 2013

Wait, wait, wait. Your rat is most likely totally fine. I have had two guinea pigs live for years with tumors like these. Neither got noticeably sick until a week or so before they died. They were running around fine, eating and chewing on stuff. Then for a week they looked a little bit weak. They were both very old, so I knew this was it. Then for a night they were sick and then they died. These were animals in the 7-8-year-old range, ancient for a guinea pig.

During their week of sickness I would have taken them to a vet had they been younger. I elected not to interfere because what is a vet going to do with a 7-year-old guinea pig?

Just feed your rat good food and let it do whatever it likes to do. It will have a great life with this tumor. Seems to be otherwise healthy? Eating? Drinking? Running around? Let her be.

Please, please do not do any of the horrible things mentioned in this thread. Your rat is fine.
posted by skbw at 7:35 AM on September 15, 2013 [4 favorites]

And FYI on disease course. One guinea pig looked like she was expecting! In fact, when I first noticed the tumor, a new piggie had just arrived and I suspected something. No. Her tumor got bigger and bigger and she lost a lot of her hair. Still running around and raising hell. During this period, we actually got some new baby guinea pigs and she ran around after them.

#2 guinea pig...the one that I thought had impregnated #1 long ago...obviously had a tumor, but it was not as big. She lived happily until, let's say, 6.5 years old, but never lost her hair or had a giant, giant tumor.

So the size of the tumor is not much of an indicator, IME.
posted by skbw at 7:40 AM on September 15, 2013

Please don't try to cut off your rat's head with a knife. Soooo many ways that could go wrong. Nthing the advice to feed your rat good food, watch for signs of pain (not eating, acting lethargic, etc.) and then see if a vet could provide inexpensive euthanasia.
posted by whistle pig at 7:47 AM on September 15, 2013 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: OK I guess I was expecting more exorbitant prices at a vet. I'll start calling around for a price, but she seems alright for now I guess and I'll wait until it gets worse. Thanks for all your answers.
posted by hafehd at 11:09 AM on September 15, 2013 [1 favorite]

My rats died of tumors, and they all died pretty quickly after the tumors became obvious. None of them seemed to be in pain, and none of them were horrible too look at, so we let nature take its course. You might not have to do anything.

When our favorite rat (R.I.P. Krusteaz) was dying I called a vet to see if they could euthanize her. They were polite and kind and respectful on the phone. I was afraid I was going to sound insane -- who calls a vet about a rat? -- but I was wrong, vets are used to all kinds of pets. So don't let that hold you back if you think it's time.
posted by The corpse in the library at 1:35 PM on September 15, 2013 [1 favorite]

Also, looking at your profile, it looks like you live in a big enough place to give both rats to a rescue if, for whatever reason, you can't or don't want to care for them. Google "city name pet rescue."
posted by skbw at 1:17 PM on September 16, 2013