Dr. Williams wrote:
>Mast cell tumors are common benign skin tumors in ferrets.  Assuming that
>this very ferret-knowledgeable vet is correct in her assessment, then the
>thing to do is have it removed.  Don't worry in that it may be malignant,
>but it should be removed, as mast cell tumors do not spontaneously
>regress, often ulcerate, and may serve as portals for infection until
>removed.
 
Dr. Williams,
Thank you for saying this.  A while back, we got into a discussion about
whether mast cell tumors should be removed and a number of people wrote me
that they don't bother having them removed; they're not normally malignant
and they don't want to expose their ferret to anesthesia if it's not
absolutely necessary.  My vet feels they should be removed because of what
they could be doing "inside".  I don't think you can know for sure whether
it's a mast cell tumor without a pathology report.  Some people say they
can tell by looking at them.  Lany's looked like a tiny little scab on her
tummy.  I was even a little embarrassed taking her in for them to look at
it and only did so because someone else was going in anyway.  It was
removed because a scraping showed something irregular and because of the
strange location for a "boo-boo".  Her vet was surprised that it turned
out to be a mast cell tumor.  She later had a nasty looking thing on her
shoulder that I was sure was a mast cell tumor and it was nothing.  I
don't think you can be too careful.
 
Katharine
[Posted in FML issue 3233]