>My 3 1/2 yr. old Sadi has developed a black sore on top of her head. It >looked like a play wound, then it would not react to antibiotic salve. >The vet pickd (yes picked!) it off, said it may be a cyst, not to worry. >He is good, but not a feret pro, a very competant man, not a ferret >surgeon. He discarded the scab, I wanted it. Anywy, the scab returned, >lgr. than before, & not responding to dilute H2O2 pattings, Triple anti >bio salve. Is this that mass cell problem ? Can you give me some >input. What are my options here? I love her so much, she is my first & >the most frail of my 3....I am sad & worried. please reply. Dear Patricia: Sounds like a skin tumor - likely a benign sebaceous tumor, which generally look scabby/warty, but could also be a mast cell tumor (which are generally flat and scabby). You can find more info on both at http://www.afip.org/ferrets Being as it is not responding to antibiotics (which tends to rule out your typical infected scratch/scrape/fight wound, I think I'd go for surgery at this point to remove it before it gets any bigger. When you have a chronic non-healing open wound (as many skin tumors become), it can serve as a portal for bacteria and you can end up with a systemic bacterial infection, which is a much worse problem. A 3.5 year old ferret should be a good surgical candidate, even if she is small. Don't worry - let's just remove the problem. Oh, and make sure your vet has it analyzed - while over 95% of skin tumors are benign, we want to make sure that this one is as well. With kindest regards, Bruce Williams, DVM P.S. I am posting your question to the Ferret Mailing List for everyone's benefit- it's a good one, and one I get a lot. I'll anonymize it, however. [Posted in FML issue 3186]