>From:    Carrie-Lynn Kudelka <[log in to unmask]>
>
>A while back, I noticed a growth on my ferret's tip of his tail.  It
>continues to grow....
 
Hi Carrie-Lynn,
 
It sounds like it could be a chordoma, which is a cancerous but generally
not malignant growth that sometimes occurs on ferrets' tails.  My ferret
Pan had one removed earlier this year.  Antibiotics and conditioners will
not do anything to stop its growth or cure it; the best and really only
cure is surgery.  The good news though is that it is not a difficult
surgery, and once removed, they don't come back.  Here are a couple of
pages with photos/information about chordoma:
 
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/chordoma.html
 
http://www.ferrets-n-limbo.org/TitusvilleFeaturedFerret.html
 
Chordoma isn't generally life-threatening, but if allowed to continue to
grow, the skin may get tight and split, and this can't feel too good to
the ferret.  I'm not sure how your vet checked for cancer, but you might
want to ask him/her to read up on chordomas and reconsider the diagnosis.
 
Good luck,
Regina
 
Regina Harrison  [log in to unmask]
http://users.rcn.com/badriya/
blog: http://badriya-z.blogspot.com/
 
"Is that my business?  Well, what is my business?  Do I know?  Did I ever
know?  Let's not go into that.  You're not human tonight, Marlowe.  Maybe
I never was or ever will be... Maybe we all get like this in the cold
half-lit world where always the wrong thing happens and never the right."
--Raymond Chandler, The Little Sister
[Posted in FML issue 4664]