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Sorry to hear about the loss of your pet.  Can ferrets get sarcomas
after an injection?  Yes, Very, Very rarely they can.  I had a case
report of a vaccine injection site sarcoma in a pet ferret published in
JAVMA (213:955) back in 1998.  Since then I have not seen one.  There
was a second paper published from the vets at the U of Georgia also
describing vaccine site sarcomas in pet ferrets.  Ferrets can also get
fibrosarcomas that have nothing to do with a vaccine or injection.
 
In cats there has been a lot of research on this very topic.  Some cats
are genetically prone to sarcomas after an injection (vaccines and
several other products) produces inflammation under the skin.  The
inflammation eventually leads to tumor formation.  Researchers at
Colorado State's vet school also produced a sarcoma with just the needle
going thru the cat's skin without an injection.  The needle brought a
small amount of hair under the skin which caused the inflammation.  This
same problem has also been documented in some lab animals (rodents).
 
Unfortunately there is no way of knowing for sure if his tumor was
produced by previous injections (ie vaccines, antibiotics, SQ fluids,
melatonin implant) or if it was a fibrosarcoma that had nothing to do
with an injection without a lot of specific testing.
 
Again sorry to hear about your loss,
Jerry Murray, DVM
 
 
---
Carried to the FML by Sukie (not a vet)
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[Posted in FML issue 5096]