Dear Dawn:
 
>We took Baby to the vet on Tuesday, and after determining that Baby had
>been otherwise healthy the vet examined Baby, and found a lump in the area
>just to the side of the anus.  The vet aspirated the lump and said he
>thought it was an abcess since the fluid was mostly red, and white blood
>cells.  So, the vet suggested lancing the lump so the abcess could drain.
>He used anesthetic, and when he brought Baby back the poor little guy had
>an incision over an inch long that had a couple little stitches on either
>end.  The vet said he didn't get as much pus as he expected from the lump.
>He said we should go home and give cefa drops (an antibiotic) twice a day
>and warm packs on the incision/lump twice a day, and return in a week.  We
>have been following the directions to a tee, and I am starting to wonder
>about this thing.  Has anyone ever seen anything like this?  The vet said
>if it doesn't go away, he wants to do surgery to remove the lump.
 
Based on Baby's age, and the location of the lump, and the aspirate
results, the most likely possibility in this case is an incomplete
descenting.  While the vast majority of kits coming out of ferret farms
are completely descented, in some cases the entire gland is not removed,
and fragments of the sac remain embedded in the perianal tissues.  They
continue to secrete, and eventually an abscess forms.  In these cases, it
generally is best to go in early, and try to remove the tissue before the
inflammation spreads, and makes it very difficult to pinpoint the location
of the anal sac remnant.
 
Of course, there are other more remote possibilities, including several
types of tumors.  Uncommon in animals this young, but a slim chance.
 
My recommendation would be to schedule the surgery - if it is an anal sac -
you stand a better chance of removing it now, before the inflammation gets
out of hand, and if it is some type of tumor, the sooner we get it out the
better.
 
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, dVM
[Posted in FML issue 3263]