Hello All: We got some word back today from our vet concerning Mica and the weird tumor/growth that killed her. It doesn't make a lot of sense at this point and our vet is still investigating, but here's what she found out with Mica's autopsy. First, the lump/tumor/growth was definitely *not* cancer....it tests as non-cancerous. It had swollen her throat almost shut, however, and had spread both into her right eye and into her brain. It had also severed the nerve (on her right side) that enabled her to maintain her balance--and yet not 24 hours prior she was up and walking drinking water out of the shower! (These are incredibly tough little animals.) Additionally, her liver had grown to roughly triple normal size and was discolored...rather than a rich chocolate brown like a normal liver, it was nearly white. Again, it did *not* test cancerous...whatever this growth/tumor was it had apparently either begun in or spread to her liver. It was very apparent that nothing we could have done would have saved Mica, even if we still aren't sure what it was that killed her. Our vet is sending tissue samples off for additional testing, but all in all she's stumped....it's just plain nothing she's seen before in any animal. Steve and Colleen Continually Matching Wits with Minx, Taz, Scamp, Rosie, Splinter, Maverick, Chevy, Harp, and Guiness Waiting on the Other Side: Missy, Ripple, Slinky, Zebulon Pike, Newone, Ranger, Puck, and Mica [Posted in FML issue 2892]