Dear Ferretsey:
 
>Now Sara--my first rescue ferret has developed a sore that looks
>suspiciously like a lump--it has scabbed over though and it doesnt look
>like the tumors Max had.  I dont know quite what to do about Sara--she is
>getting up there and my vet as knowledgeable and kind as he is, does not
>do much ferret surgery.  I hate to travel to Kansas City to a vet as my
>darling DH has not been well and I cant drive in KC--frightens me.  Could
>this lump just be an infected hair or something.  I guess I will have my
>vet make a diagnosis and then go from there.  I dont want her to suffer
>like poor Max did.  I would rather have to go to sleep and go on like
>Baby did.
 
Such talk!  It's still only a skin tumor - if your vet does any ferret
surgery at all, he can handle this one.  Remember all of the provisos of
ferret surgery - gas anesthesia only, careful attention to temperature
during and after surgery, quickly remove the lump and send it off for
analysis.  Can't tell you what it is right now, but playing the odds,
it's probably a benign skin tumro - over 95% of these things are.  This
isn't a Kansas city case yet!
 
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, DVM
[Posted in FML issue 3222]