Ugh! I just got over Jerry's adrenals and now this! I noticed about a month ago a small red "spot" on Sammy's side (Sammy is a 4yr. sable mitt), it looked like an injury in one of the classic "king of the hammock" bouts with Jerry, so I checked on it a few days later and it looked "healed over." I wasn't too worried about it. Well, it came back, and has stayed. My vet (a good guy) says he thinks it is a cyst. However, Sammy has been very scratchy-itchy lately, rubbing on the carpet alot and stopping to itch furiously while chasing Esther around the house. He usually stops to itch when he gets excited at some point, but not this much. Anyways, there seemed to be some localized hair loss at the small red lump on his left abdomen. The red spot was swollen, and possibly itched open. Since then Sammy has had hair loss on his tummy, and between his forelegs. I know it is shedding season, as Wisconsin has had a few cold-butt mornings already, but Sammy should not be shedding THIS much. His coat looks generally run-down and thin. So I brought him into the vet, and he said it looked like adrenals. Rats. I hate cancer. Anywho, the Dr. said that the adrenals FELT fine, but his spleen was "a little swollen," which it is- but not much. The top part is a little, but the bottom 3/4 of it is flat as a pancake (well, a thin pancake). He has surgery scheduled for the 26th to get the spot removed. However, part of me is thinking that if he is going to be put under maybe exploratory surgery and a splenectomy could be done too, and just put all the fears to rest. Or, I could have the spot removed, and if it was a mast cell that was causing histamines and hair loss, I would see an improvement and not have to open him up. I'd like to hear opinions on what to do. I hate having them opened up, as Esther and Jerry both have. They always seem a bit traumatized by the whole process. Thanks, Mark ___________________________________ | Mark A. Pendl | | [log in to unmask] | | http://www.uwm.edu/~spam | | In the heart of Maricopa Province | \_________________________________/ [Posted in FML issue 2071]