To Cindy Sooy:
 
   >My 3 1/2 year old hob, Axel, has a small lump ... on the left side of his
>neck near his shoulder. My vet thought at first that it might be a cyst and
>she tried to get some fluid from it but apparently it is very solid.
 
   Cindy - subcutaneous tumors are very common in ferrets and may arise
quickly.  The key here is that over 95% are benign.
 
> She said some animals get calcium deposits but she thought he was too
>young for that, so she thought it was probably a sarcoma or fibrosarcoma.
 
   Ferrets rarely get calcium depostis, and then only in areas of previous
vaccinations.  They also rarely get fibrosarcoma - sarcomas (malignant tumors
of non-epidermal origin) that I have seen are hemangiosarcoma (a tumor of blood
vessels) and neurofibrosarcoma (a tumor of nerves) - but both of these are
low-grade, easily removed, and I have never seen metastasis.
 
> I am on vacation from May 13 to May 21 and if surgery is warranted it
>will be done at this time.
 
   That's the ticket!!!
 
--
Bruce Williams, DVM, DACVP              Department of Veterinary Pathology
[log in to unmask]               Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
[log in to unmask]             Washington, D.C.  20306-6000
(202) 782-2600/2602
[Posted in FML issue 1185]