My Paddington is seven, and has two mast cell tumours.  One is on his hip,
and dates from about two years ago.  At the time it first appeared, the vet
and I agreed that it appeared benign, but decided to remove it anyway,
"just to be on the safe side".  Prior to the surgery, though, we wanted to
perform a blood panel on Paddington - and he got so upset by this procedure
(the blood drawing) that the vet and I changed our minds.  We decided that
the stress of the blood panel and surgery outweighed the risk of the (slim)
possibility that the tumour might be a health hazard ... and we left it
there.
 
Paddington has another mast cell tumour which appeared on his neck this
past month.  I took him to the vet Tuesday, and the verdict was the same.
From what the vet tells me, the risk from mast cell tumours is rather low
in ferrets ... and Paddington obviously does not react well to medical
procedures.  So, unless something major changes, we're leaving this one in
place, too.  It's rather small (grain of rice size), and the vet declared
it to be very superficial.
 
If worst comes to worst and the tumour does change radically, I think I'll
opt for a "punch biopsy" before a full removal.  The vet explained this to
me as being a less invasive option, and hopefully, it wouldn't get
Paddington as stressed as other medical procedures.  I keep checking the
"bump", though, and it looks the same .. so so far, so good!  :->
 
- Ela
 
Ela Heyn
Harborside Mail Stop 3024
201-860-3336
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[Posted in FML issue 2743]