What can I do to stop my female rat getting tumors on her body

I have had a female rat who died because of an operation she had to remove the tumors she had. She was to old to cope and died the day after the operation. I am thinking about getting another female rat(s), but I want to find out if I can prevent what happened to my previous one happening to a new one.

I am so sorry you lost your little girl to surgery :*(. You are not alone in that many rats do not survive their surgeries. Surgeries for rats is different then it is for dogs and cats, but many vets are unaware of these risks, so they don't take the precautions needed.

Our pet rats come from lab rats, which in turn are genetically predisposed to the development of tumors for cancer research purposes. It's a given, something we have to live with as long as we choose to keep rats as pets. The longer we breed our pet rats to be genetically different then lab rats the more likely we will have pets that are tumor-free. Ethical breeders are working towards this goal, but I'm afraid this is going to be many, many, years down the road.

There is no guarantee that rats are going to be tumor-free for their entire lives, but you would have a better chance of this if you choose rats from respectable breeders, rather then getting rats from the pet stores. Here's a place to start your search, http://www.ratster.com/

Holistarat, http://groups.yahoo.com/groups/holistara... a group that I started in 2002, for the holistic care of pet rats, has many options to help you keep your rats healthier for longer, and could ease your burden of, "I want to find out if I can prevent what happened to my previous one happening to a new one". Special foods, homeopathics, herbals, and more have benefited many members' rats over the years. We are graced with holistic vets and vet techs on this group.