Hi all,
about a year ago I discovered a tiny bump on the base of Basil's tail.  It
was so small my husband and I wondered if it had been there a long time and
we just hadn't noticed.  We pointed it out to our vet at the time, who felt
it was just a bony growth, maybe due to her tail getting caught in
something.  We were not too worried.  Now, however, it has grown to 3-4
times the size and it is visible parting the fur on her tail.  I took her
to the vet this morning who diagnosed it as a tumor of some kind.  He poked
a needle into it and no fluid came out, it is very hard and painless.  I
asked him if he needed to take a biopsy to confirm this, but he felt no
matter what sort of growth it is, it needs to be cut out.  The tail being
not much more than vertebrae, would also have to come off with this
procedure.  Chemotherapy has not been proven effective here in Australia
(probably never been done on ferrets I assume), very costly (which makes no
difference to me), but worst of all would make Baz very sick.  I agree with
this not being a good option as I do not think it is fair on my sweet girl.
I feel sick at the thought of her losing her glorious tail, after which she
was named: Basil Brush, but I do feel an urgency in removing this growth so
that it doesn't spread up her spine.  I feel grateful in a way that the
tumor is only on her tail, after all, it is of no great significance to
her.  Is it???  If it spreads to her back we will be in deep trouble.  I
was wondering if anybody has had any experience with a tail amputation and
how the fuzzy coped afterwards.  By the way, my vet has been excellent with
all my ferrets.  He has done delicate surgeries inserting pins into a
broken thighbone (these pins are not made in ferret size here!) and one
where a hip balljoint was removed and a new joint fashioned (can't remember
the technical term for it).  So he is definitely not averse to trying new
things for us.  He is not a butcher by any means.  Any advice or thoughts
in general?  Please keep her in your thoughts.
 
My deepest and heartfelt sympathies to those of you who have lost beloved
fuzzies.
Thanks, Deb & Basil (one of the scandalous six).
[Posted in FML issue 2562]