Hello All:
 
We got some word back today from our vet concerning Mica and the weird
tumor/growth that killed her.  It doesn't make a lot of sense at this point
and our vet is still investigating, but here's what she found out with
Mica's autopsy.
 
First, the lump/tumor/growth was definitely *not* cancer....it tests as
non-cancerous.  It had swollen her throat almost shut, however, and had
spread both into her right eye and into her brain.  It had also severed the
nerve (on her right side) that enabled her to maintain her balance--and yet
not 24 hours prior she was up and walking drinking water out of the shower!
(These are incredibly tough little animals.)
 
Additionally, her liver had grown to roughly triple normal size and was
discolored...rather than a rich chocolate brown like a normal liver, it
was nearly white.  Again, it did *not* test cancerous...whatever this
growth/tumor was it had apparently either begun in or spread to her liver.
 
It was very apparent that nothing we could have done would have saved Mica,
even if we still aren't sure what it was that killed her.  Our vet is
sending tissue samples off for additional testing, but all in all she's
stumped....it's just plain nothing she's seen before in any animal.
 
Steve and Colleen
Continually Matching Wits with Minx, Taz, Scamp, Rosie, Splinter, Maverick,
Chevy, Harp, and Guiness
Waiting on the Other Side:  Missy, Ripple, Slinky, Zebulon Pike, Newone,
Ranger, Puck, and Mica
[Posted in FML issue 2892]