From:
"Heather Johnson"
Date: 2002-11-05 00:39:41 UTC
Subject: Mast cell tumors in ferrets, African hedgehogs
To: <ferrethealth@smartgroups.com>
Message-ID: <MFEAICJPLFNKDJEDCKDICEKHCPAA.missmurr@bellsouth.net>
Hi everyone --
I have to admit first of all that I'm not a ferret owner (although wow, are
they wonderful little creatures!). I actually have a lovely African
hedgehog named Knarla Pog, and do hedgehog rescue.
The reason I've come here is to seek information on mast cell tumors. I've
found some extensive information on the web about their manifestation in
ferrets. Knarla recently had a small nodule excised from her chest near her
collarbone, and the lab results show that it is a mast cell tumor. She has
always had exceptionally sensitive skin, and this was, as far as I knew,
just another itchy spot.
My vet feels quite confident that he has removed all of the
tumor, and its appearance is certainly consistent with what
photos I have seen of mast cell tumors in ferrets. At this
point, we are attempting to determine if this is likely to be a
benign occurrence, as we might see in a ferret, or something that we would
need to treat more aggressively, as we would in a dog or cat.
In other words -- do we know what it is about ferrets that causes these mast
cell tumors not to be problematic as they are in other species? Do we know
what other species share these characteristics?
My first hedgehog, Murray, died of complications related to squamous cell
carcinoma along her jaw, and I've taken it upon myself to learn as much as I
can about the subject of cancer in hedgehogs. See
www.hedgies.com/cancer.htm for my findings and resources here. Perhaps some
of those could be useful in applications to ferrets as well.
My hope is that we two communities of exotic pet lovers can pool our
resources and learn more from each other, to help treat our beloved friends.
We, for example, have had great success treating cancers in hedgehogs with a
nutritional supplement called IP-6 (see the above link for more
information). With Murray, with a dosage of 3-4 IP-6 capsules per week (she
weighed about 350g for most of the treatment), we actually saw tumor
regression on x-rays. Granted, this is anecdotal evidence, but my vet and I
have also seen no side effects from the treatment other than increased
thirst, which we did not see as a negative.
Any general information you can provide would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Heather
Heather Johnson, stormypetrel@bellsouth.net
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