Goosemoose Pet Portal

Last night I noticed a slightly smaller than a pea sized lump in Dean's throat.  :( It could possibly be an abcess, because he had mites awhile ago and was doing a lot of scratching on his neck....but I'm really afraid it's a tumor. My Boxer who passed away had a cancerous tumor in the same place, and it feels like a much smaller version of what hers was like.
I'm going to cross my fingers and try warm compresses...but if it doesn't burst, I'm at a loss of what to do. I can't take him to the vet to get a professional opinion on what it is...and I feel just terrible about that. I'm usually really good about having some money saved up in a vet fund for my animals...but I've had some issues with one of my roommates not paying their share of rent for two months and then leaving, and since the lease is in my name I had to take responsibility and fork out the money for that, and also my car payment and insurance just came out, and I'm having some issues with my work where I am only getting 20 hours a week instead of 40...so it's all piling up and I'm going to be very broke for atleast another week, or maybe two. I just cried for awhile when I first found the lump because I couldn't rush him to the vet.
So I need to know...until I can take him to the vet, what should I do? I've been searching "tumor" and trying to learn that way but I'm still very lost. He's eating and active, although a bit slower than usual. He may be getting old... I got him in August 2007 when he was dumped at Petsmart, and he was an adult then so I have no idea what his age is. And what will the vet do? Since the lump is in his throat...it seems like a bad place for surgery, especially if he's an old man. I can't remember exactly what the vet did when my dog got cancer, because it was when I was still living at my parents house and they took care of it. I know she never had any kind of surgery though. She stayed with us until she couldn't sleep because the lump in her throat got so big she couldn't breathe while laying down, and she couldn't keep food down anymore. Then she was put to sleep.
I'm just so scared and depressed right now...my poor, sweet little Dean.... :'(

If it's a tumor, there really isn't anything you can do besides watching it grow, or getting it removed.  Since it's pea-sized, it really would be in your best interest to get it removed now, since it would cost a lot less, and be much less of a recovery for Dean. 

Even if he was a year old in August last year, that doesn't make him old, really.  I've had rats 2-3 years old go under the knife with no issues.  You don't base your decision on their age, you base it on their health.  One of my past rats, Hazel, had a lump on her neck.  It was removed successfully and she healed up without any issues besides a seroma which disappeared quickly. 

Dogs are different than rats.  Because rats are so small, everything happens with them much (much) faster then larger animals. 

Any other suggestions? I've heard of things that can slow down growth...

If I was in that situation (tumor on neck) I'd remove asap. Neck tumors are as it is in on case to case basis in regards of how well/if they can be removed and I wouldn't wait till it grew. It'd increase risks and possible make it inoperable.

It could also be a lymph node.