Ugh!  I just got over Jerry's adrenals and now this!  I noticed about a
month ago a small red "spot" on Sammy's side (Sammy is a 4yr.  sable mitt),
it looked like an injury in one of the classic "king of the hammock" bouts
with Jerry, so I checked on it a few days later and it looked "healed over."
I wasn't too worried about it.
 
Well, it came back, and has stayed.  My vet (a good guy) says he thinks it
is a cyst.  However, Sammy has been very scratchy-itchy lately, rubbing on
the carpet alot and stopping to itch furiously while chasing Esther around
the house.  He usually stops to itch when he gets excited at some point, but
not this much.  Anyways, there seemed to be some localized hair loss at the
small red lump on his left abdomen.  The red spot was swollen, and possibly
itched open.  Since then Sammy has had hair loss on his tummy, and between
his forelegs.  I know it is shedding season, as Wisconsin has had a few
cold-butt mornings already, but Sammy should not be shedding THIS much.  His
coat looks generally run-down and thin.
 
So I brought him into the vet, and he said it looked like adrenals.  Rats.
I hate cancer.  Anywho, the Dr. said that the adrenals FELT fine, but his
spleen was "a little swollen," which it is- but not much.  The top part is a
little, but the bottom 3/4 of it is flat as a pancake (well, a thin pancake).
 
He has surgery scheduled for the 26th to get the spot removed.  However,
part of me is thinking that if he is going to be put under maybe exploratory
surgery and a splenectomy could be done too, and just put all the fears to
rest.  Or, I could have the spot removed, and if it was a mast cell that was
causing histamines and hair loss, I would see an improvement and not have to
open him up.
 
I'd like to hear opinions on what to do.  I hate having them opened up, as
Esther and Jerry both have.  They always seem a bit traumatized by the whole
process.
 
Thanks, Mark
 ___________________________________
| Mark A. Pendl                     |
| [log in to unmask]                  |
| http://www.uwm.edu/~spam          |
| In the heart of Maricopa Province |
 \_________________________________/
[Posted in FML issue 2071]