From:
dr_bruce_williams
Date: 2001-12-04 23:32:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Peyton's vulva
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., Vicky <ferretmama226@y...> wrote:
> I have some questins about my jill, Peyton.
> She's a Christmas rescue ferret, so her history
> is unknown. She's about 1.5 years old and was
> spayed when she was about 8 months old.
>
> Back in mid-September, Peyton had a very slightly
> swollen vulva with a light-colored discharge. I
> took her to the vet, she didn't really know what
> was going on, but she put her on amoxicillan,
> which cleard it up.
>
> Fast forward to this past Saturday evening. I
> was away during the day and when I returned that
> evening, part of Peyton's vulva was severely
> swollen. There seemed to be swelling all over,
> but one part was like a larger bump. It looked
> very red and inflamed as well. There is a small
> amount of discharge or bleeding of some sort, but
> it is very minute. I took a picture with my
> digital camera, it's as clear as I could get it.
>
>
> I haven't taken her back to the vet, since the
> vet didn't know what was going on before.
> However, Peyton started on amoxi again yesterday
> (Monday) and her vulva has already shown
> significant improvement. I also washed the area
> with peroxide and applyed vasoline to ease any
> burning during urination, as it looked very
> painful when it was inflamed.
>
> Have any of you seen something like this? It
> seems like it's some sort of an infection, but
> why has it reoccured 2 months after it cleared
> up?
>
Dear Vicky -
tough to tell from the picture, but I think at the top of my list
would be a small cyst or tumor from a scent gland (very common around
the vulva, where there are large numbers of these glands). The
possibility of a cut and small infection is also there, as the vulva
is not the cleanest place in the world. The key is to keep it clean
and on the amoxi, and see if the bump remains. A biopsy in this
area, if necesary, should be accomplished sooner rather than later,
as I am always nervous about any swellings around the genitals in
ferrets - they have a higher chance of being a "bad actor"
With kindest regards,
Bruce Willams, dVM