Introduction
Rats are prone to tumors, commonly in the mammary glands and in the uterus. These tumors can be benign or malignant. Removing them as soon as they are noted makes for a much better prognosis.
Appearance
In addition to the usual underside location of mammary tissue found in most mammals, rats have mammary tissue under the skin along the top and the sides of their bodies. If this extensive network of mammary tissue develops a tumor, the lump that is present can be found most anywhere on the trunk of the body. The following pictures show some of these locations:
This large tumor was almost inoperable. 
Its hard to believe that someone would let a tumor get this large before they would bring their rat in for care.
This is a different rat from the one above. This rat is prepped for surgery to remove its large tumor.
This give you an idea of what this tumor looks like on the inside.
It took a large incison to remove all of the tumor.
This rat has a mammary tissue lump in the right armpit area.
This is the appearance of the skin right after removal. Stainless steel sutures are used because they are difficult to chew out and cause minimal skin reaction. They will be removed in 7-10 days.
This is a close-up of the tumor nodule that was removed. It is two inches across.
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