Figure 4: Gastric sarcoma in adult male rat
Case history and necropsy photos
History
Hairless male rat 1.5 years of age.
Clinical Signs
Rat had been experiencing lethargy and respiratory difficulties for several months.
Diagnosis
Gastric sarcoma
Treatment
He was not responding to antibiotic treatment and began showing abdominal swelling. The rat was humanely euthanized.
Follow-up
Necropsy
The pathology report cited: “gastric sarcoma (likely leiomyosarcoma) with ulceration, testicular atrophy and atrophy of testicular fat pad, marked splenic hematopoiesis, granulopoiesis and plasmacytosis.”
Photos
 The first photo above shows the rat post mortem with obvious abdominal swelling. In the two following photos to the right we see the stomach exposed showing the tumor (left side of the stomach) and the ingested contents on the right. The white in the stomach is soy formula that the owner had been feeding the rat. |
 In this view the stomach has been removed, cut open, emptied, and inverted to show the gastric sarcoma inside. |
