Hi There:

I'd like to add my 2 cents into the fibrosarcoma issue.

Early this yr, I received 2 ferrets from our local humane society -
Madison & Mason. Madison was roughly 6 yrs old at the time (according
to Julie Fossa, who originally had Madison at her shelter, before she
was adopted, & later turned over to our humane soc). Madison had one
HUGE fibrosarcoma on the right side of her head, behind the ear, &
another small one starting on the right side of her face, just behind
the whiskers. Here is a photo of her, the day I brought her home:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/LinTK/madison1.jpg

After her surgery, which involved surgical removal of the large lump
behind her ear, & the smaller one being cauterized:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/LinTK/madison2.jpg

And finally, as her hair grew back:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/LinTK/madisonhair.jpg

We only had Madison until she passed away on the operating table
on 9 Sept, during surgery to find out what was wrong w/ her
stomach/intestines, that she suddenly started having trouble w/. Turns
out, she also had hepatitis. However, she never had another occurance
of her fibrosarcoma.

I'm certainly no expert, & this was my first ever experience w/ this.
But I'm sure all situations are different, & all outcomes are
different, too.

And now, a question about my Max, for anyone who's ever experienced
this. Max is about 6 - 7 yrs old (a rescue from Jean's shelter, Ferrets
Unlimited). About 6 - 8 mos ago, Max started developing really horrible
breath. I've had pets before (ferret & cat) who'd developed renal
failure, & I was convinced this was what was happening to Max. He was
shortly thereafter also diagnosed w/ insulinoma, for which he's on
pred, & has mostly been well controlled on.

A wk ago Mon, he was reluctant to eat. Upon syringe feeding him, I
noticed what appeared to be a huge abscess on the right side, on the
gumline behind his upper canine. No wonder he didn't want to eat - that
baby must *hurt*! I took him to my vet the next day, & Dr B thought
it looked more sinster than just a tooth root abscess. We started Max
on clavamox at that time. On Thur morning Dr B did some xrays, &
discovered what appeared to be cancer in the zygomatic arch, below his
right eye. Needless to say, I was devistated. Whether is was squamous
cell carcinoma that had spread into the bone, or osteosarcoma, he
didn't know, & testing for it would merely be academic - it was bad, &
nothing could be done. He's already on the pred, & Dr B said to pulse
the clavamox, 4 days on/3 days off, to prevent any future secondary
infection. Other than that, it would be a case of keeping him
comfortable & happy for as long as we could.

After 4 days on the clavamox, & 2 days off - this past Sat - I picked
Max up in the evening, as we were cleaning cages, & much to my surprise
- his breath was COMPLETELY NORMAL! No more horrible funky smell. No
different than my other 3 ferrets' breath.

I've shot an email to my vet, but I also want to ask here, for anyone
else's experience. Is it possible that perhaps Max had a long-standing
infection in there, that we were unaware of until the abscess popped
up, that could have invaded the bone, & not cancer after all? My vet
says it's *possible*, but would be highly unusual, as it would have
to have skipped other bone structures to get to the zygomatic arch.

I am not deluding myself into thinking that this is indeed the case
yet. The plan is to keep pulsing the clavamox, & repeat the xrays in
5 wks. But I'm curious as to whether anyone else here has ever had
anything like this happen to their ferret. If so, what was the outcome?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts & experiences!

Lin, Max, Puck, Ivan, & Mason
~ Missing my angel Ariel - 20 April 2000 - 20 January 2007. Wait for
me, my Baby Girl. I miss you so much. ~
~ Missing my Oberon - 4 July 2001 - 5 May 2008 - I love you, my Big
Silly Boy. Wait for me. ~
~ Missing my Madison - ? - 9 September 2008 - Our time was too short,
but my love is forever. ~

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
email me at: kay tee en eye el at double-u owe aich dot ar ar dot
see owe em
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[Posted in FML 6132]