>My 3 1/2 yr. old Sadi has developed a black sore on top of her head.  It
>looked like a play wound, then it would not react to antibiotic salve.
>The vet pickd (yes picked!) it off, said it may be a cyst, not to worry.
>He is good, but not a feret pro, a very competant man, not a ferret
>surgeon. He discarded the scab, I wanted it.  Anywy, the scab returned,
>lgr. than before, & not responding to dilute H2O2 pattings, Triple anti
>bio salve.  Is this that mass cell problem ?  Can you give me some
>input.  What are my options here?   I love her so much, she is my first &
>the most frail of my 3....I am sad & worried.  please reply.
 
Dear Patricia:
 
Sounds like a skin tumor - likely a benign sebaceous tumor, which generally
look scabby/warty, but could also be a mast cell tumor (which are generally
flat and scabby).  You can find more info on both at
http://www.afip.org/ferrets
 
Being as it is not responding to antibiotics (which tends to rule out your
typical infected scratch/scrape/fight wound, I think I'd go for surgery at
this point to remove it before it gets any bigger.  When you have a chronic
non-healing open wound (as many skin tumors become), it can serve as a
portal for bacteria and you can end up with a systemic bacterial infection,
which is a much worse problem.
 
A 3.5 year old ferret should be a good surgical candidate, even if she is
small.
 
Don't worry - let's just remove the problem.  Oh, and make sure your vet
has it analyzed - while over 95% of skin tumors are benign, we want to
make sure that this one is as well.
 
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, DVM
 
P.S.  I am posting your question to the Ferret Mailing List for everyone's
benefit- it's a good one, and one I get a lot.  I'll anonymize it, however.
[Posted in FML issue 3186]