I want to give an update on Noid's condition to see what people think
at this point.
 
It's been a week and a half since I discovered the small lump under
the skin of her neck.  I have no idea how long it has actually been
there.  There hasn't been any noticeable change in size, and she still
doesn't appear to feel any pain when I apply gentle pressure.  Then
again, ferrets are so poker-faced that you usually can't tell if
they're hurting or not.  She just looks at me as if to say, "Why are
you doing that?  If you're not going to pet me then just put me down
and let me go play."
 
When I called the vet this week I spoke to the other doctor (as in the
one I _didn't_ speak to the first time).  He said that they'd observed
similar reactions in dogs to rabies vaccinations, but this was the
first of their ferret patients to react in this way.  The lump _is_ in
the approximate place where she was given the injection.  He said that
these lumps take 1 or 2 months to go away.  It's been 5 1/2 to 6 weeks
since she was vaccinated.
 
I'm supposed to keep tabs on the size of the lump and whether or not
it becomes tender.  Since the vet suspects that this is just scar
tissue from the injection, he said that the worst case would be that
it could abcess if it isn't reabsorbed soon.  There's always the
chance that this is a tumor, but the vet said that it would be unusual
to see a tumor in such a young (4 1/2 months) animal.
 
So, we'll see...
 
--Greg
 
[Posted in FML issue 0383]