From:
dr_bruce_williams
Date: 2002-03-17 21:21:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Recuring scab on nose
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., Corinne Allen <cpallen626@y...> wrote:
>
> Hi all:
>
>
>
> My 5 year old ferret (Neutered male) has had a recurring scab on
his nose for close to a year now. It exfoliate and regrows
automatically every 3 weeks or o. Recently we did a biopsy on the
scab itself and no cancerous cell was found ( we did not biopsy the
root itself). It does not seems to bother him and his overall health
is fine. Has any of you experienced such thing?
>
Dear Corinne:
At this time, it is probably best to do a deeper biopsy. Recurrent
growth is very consistent with a tumor. Overlying scabs are
generally composed of inflammatory cells, bacteria, and blood
components, and rarely contain any live neoplastic cells. As such,
scabs are high on my list of things I generally find of little use
for diagnosis (a list which also contains things an animal coughs up
or blow out of it's nose.)
But if it keeps coming back every couple of weeks for a year, it is
likely not going to go away without some definitive treatment, and
you can't definitively treat something without knowing what it is...
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, dVM