>From:    Jennifer Pezzotti <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: I have a question about a tumor on a ferret's tail.
>
>I have a 2 year old panda bear ferret who has a tumor on the tip of her
>tail.  I took her to a vet about 6 months ago for it, and the vet told
>me that the tumor's are common in ferrets and that she wouldn't want to
>amputate the whole tale because of it.  I just noticed that the tumor
>has gotten a bit bigger, but it doesn't seem to bother the ferrret at
>all.  I don't want to put her through needless and painful surgery if it
>really isn't dangerous.  The vet I took her to though wasn't a vet who
>specializes in ferrets though.  I live in the Philadelphia area and
>wonder if anyone knows of a good ferret vet in this area or anything
>about these tumors that ferrets seem to get on their tales.
 
Most of the tumors that grow on the tip of ferret's tails are called
chordomas.  It does need to come off, but the usual procedure is to
remove just the affected tail vertebrae plus about two healthy vertebrae.
It leaves you with a short tailed ferret instead of a no tail ferret.
 
--
Russ, Booger, Bonnie & Clyde
[log in to unmask]
 
URA Redneck if your husband chews the same brand as your mother-in-law.
[Posted in FML issue 3816]