Dear Tara,
Unfortunately mast cells do have a tendency to pop up in new places even
after removal of the initial one(s).  Archie had one removed in early
September, and by December she had popped out two more, the removal of
which had to be postponed until the vets could get a handle on her
heart/lung problems.  (We are trying to fit in the surgery sometime within
the next 2 weeks, and boy do they ever grow fast.)
 
The recovery, knock wood, doesn't seem to be too bad, so I don't hesitate
to have her go through this again, but ..... this time I will have a
separate cage ready for her (the vets wanted her separated from her brother
to prevent problems with the stitches coming out, either through too rough
play, or licking), and I will also ask if it is possible for her to have
some pain medication to take home, because she did seem to be whimpering in
her sleep the first night.  You probably thought of these things ahead of
time, but I didn't.
 
I hope everything goes well with Sam and that she is not one of the unlucky
ones who gets more of the blasted things.
 
Take care!
Jennifer, Rustle and Artemis ("Archie")
[Posted in FML issue 2557]