Alright, so. Heathcliff has been doing well lately: I’ve let him pretty much free-range, as he’s gotten the hang of the litter box quite well. He even let me clip his nails for the first time this month!

About two or three weeks ago, I noticed a bald patch on his belly. I figure he’s shedding, no big deal. I pick him up and look, and see no sign of the bald patch. As Heath hates being handled and I didn’t see anything, I put him down. Over the last week, I’ve not seen anything on his belly, though I”ve been looking. I figured it was just shedding, like I originally thought, and forgot about it.

Well, tonight I saw it again. Curious, I picked him up and looked: it seems like there’s a huge tumor on his groin. There’s a long, tubular shaped growth, with a smaller one on the top. It wasn’t there when I originally checked him while checking his nails. I don’t know what it is, or how it got there. He’s unneutured, and about two or three years old: I adopted him, and the person who surrendered him had no idea of his background.

There’s been no change in his behavior at all. I recently adopted three rats, and he was initially a bit jealous, but he’s doing fine now. He runs around, eats, and grooms like normal. He’s using his litter box like normal. I changed what I use in his litter box last week, but that’s absolutely it.

What should I do? I know I’m going to have to take him to a vet’s, and I know one in Dallas, but in the meantime, is there anything I should be doing? Does anyone have ANY experience with something like this? I know it’s not a testical, as there’s only one, but I’m reaching for some hope that perhaps it’s normal.

I’m including a picture, fuzzy though it may be, to show about where the growth is. It’s the little pink thing on the left side.