I promiced to update the list about Ricky, our aging DEW who has a sqamous cell tumor on his left lower jaw. Our vet, Dr. Dean Kolich, performed cryo surgery about 3 weeks ago on the tumor. Ricky came home with what looked like a huge scab on his jaw. He continued to eat his softened kibble and soup without complaining and the "scab" slowly fell away. He had a check up today and Dr. K. found evidence of a small amount of tumor that had escaped the freezing so he re-cryo'ed (?) that small area. So far so good. Ricky also has adrenal tumors and some prostate hypertrophy. He sometimes strains to urinate and we have put him on Propecia. This seems to help. He has a melatonin implant and has had a couple of Lupron shots, now has a full winter coat. (All of the shelter ferrets have great coats, probably because the tempurature in there tends to be about 58 degrees F.) I have managed to talk the foster dad out of giving him the B-17, Laetrile, that he bought in Mexico but we do give him a modest dose of fish oil daily. Rick is an old guy, probably 7 or 8, but he does like to tool around the shelter a bit some days. All in all I'd say he's doing well. We may not extend his life and I expect the squamous cell tumor to reappear at some point, but for the time being he's comfortable, eating well, and active for his age. I will continue to let you know how he does. Bobbi McC [Posted in FML 6576]