The sad stories on this list can really get you down, but I have some good news to share. My 5 YO sprite Eris had an abcess on her lower jaw. It was treated with antibiotics and went away for about a month. Once I noticed the swelling coming back, ever so slightly, I took her in again. After an X-ray and surgery (which removed some bone), it was the doc's opinion that it was almost certainly a tumor with accompanying abcess... but we lucked out, and the biopsy came back indicating no cancer. The diagnosis was "chronic/active and fibrosing osteomyelitis, mandible." Whew! So she's on a 3-week antibiotic regimen, and she'll get a recheck which might indicate she needs to lose a tooth, depending on how the root looks... but it isn't cancer! Thank goodness. She's a tough little critter, she was eating kibble as soon as I got her home from surgery even though a small piece of bone had been removed from her jaw. She was still on metacam for a week just in case, but she did not seem to be in any pain. Amazing little animals... Best, Matt in Kirkland (and Eris, Cracker, and Huey) [Posted in FML issue 4933]