Update: Rickon is recovering well, full post soon :)
Our oldest rat, Rickon (all our rats are named after Game of Thrones characters) is having surgery tomorrow to have a tumour removed. He has managed to be both the luckiest and unluckiest of our first 3 rats in that he has lived the longest, but has also got quite a rare condition for a male rat; a mammary tumour, much more common in female rats.
In the photo above he is enjoying some berry 'weight-up' mix to help him keep his weight on (he's always been a little scrawny). Rats generally live to around two years old and he is now over two and a half! We have decided to have the tumour removed (after leaving it for a few months) because it's now affecting his movement, and we feel that it's worth the risk to help improve his quality of life despite his age.
Wish him luck!