Possible Tumor On One Of My Rats

Poor Tasty :(

I have a pair of rats, one, male, is named Snack and the other, female, is named Tasty.  My boyfriend and I rescued them through a place called Northstar at Andy's Pet Shop.  These particualr rats were babies from an episoide of Hoarders, so they are semi-famous.


They both have lived a semi peaceful life and have a 3 foot cage to run around in.  We let them out occasionally, but we also have 3 cats and want to avoid making them living toys.


Recently I noticed Tasty has one red eye.  There can be a number of causes, probably an infection, but there isn't much I can do for her.  Unfortunatly it would be a $300 pet bill and the treatment may not even help, it may be a tumor requiring major sugury.


It looks like it's Porphyrin, because I looked closely at the irritated eye and there are red flakes around it.  This could be a deadly infection and I noticed her left leg is sevearly swollen.  It's likely a tumor and there is literally nothing I can do.


Honestly, I feel awful, I hate letting an animal suffer.  Thankfully she doesn't seem to be in any pain and her man is with her.  I really just don't want to find her dead in the cage one day.


I love the rats, they are also a symbol of both my boyfriends and I's Chinese zodiac animals.  I like the story about how the rat defeated the ox to be first in the zodiac, it's a story about how small ideas can have the greatest impact.


I know there isn't really any ideas too profound in this post, but I'm just worried about another one of my furry babies.


What kind of pets do you own?