To Jon-Anne who cleans up the litter:
 
     >to Dr.Williams:
     >    One of my ferrets, Big, recently had a cyst removed from her
     >front left paw.  it was fine, and healing well for two weeks, then my
     >boyfriend and i noticed that her stiches were swelling up circularly
     >in the form of the cyst that was "removed."  is it possible for a
     >cyst to come back, and if so, is it because not all of the cyst was
     >removed? also, what is a cyst, and how do they develop?  (how did she
     >get one in the first place?)
 
        Jon-Anne -
 
        Cysts are simply fluid-filled sacs which expand with the fluid -
     sort of like a big wate baloon.  Most cysts are dilated sweat glands,
     whose connection to the surface of the skin has for some reason become
     occluded, or cut off, so it grows bigger, and bigger, etc.  Most don't
     pop, because they are surrounded by tough fibrous connective tissue.
 
        Her stitches may be swelling because a)  she has started irritating
     them, b) the cyst was not completely removed and is filling up again,
     or c) it wasn't a cyst at all but a skin tumor that was either not
     completely removed and is growing back, or was malignant (but over 95%
     of skin tumors are benign.
 
        Did you have your vet send the cyst to a pathologist so we know for
     sure what it is?
 
        The best thing to do is when the stitches are removed, have the vet
     take a good close look.  If it is anything other than swelling in the
     area because she has been worrying the site, then go back in and take
     out more tissue.  Then have the vet send it to the pathologist.
 
        Almost all cysts are completely benign, and complete surgical
     removal is generally curative.
 
       Bruce Williams, DVM                 Department of Veterinary Pathology
       [log in to unmask]         Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
       (202) 782-2600/2602                    Washington, D.C.  20306-6000
[Posted in FML issue 1034]