From:
Pam Sessoms
Date: 2003-06-10 15:33:38 UTC
Subject: Re: Skin tumor?
To: Stephanie Gilbert <fommy@ferretlovers.com>
cc: Triangle Ferret Lovers <trifl@yahoogroups.com>,
<ferrethealth@smartgroups.com>
Message-ID: <Pine.A41.4.44+UNC.0306101117030.28354-100000@login6.isis.unc.edu>
Stephanie,
Welcome to the knobby-tail club! :)
> ...noticed that he has a noticeable knot on the tip of his tail.
> Noodle has always had a semi short tail for a ferret, and I have been
> questioned before about whether something had happened to it...not to my
> knowledge, and I got him as a kit from a pet store.
I've had a couple of ferrets with knots on their tails. If the knot has
*always* been there, with his short tail, I'd suspect that the end of the
tail was at some point broken or that it's just a minor deformity. In
that case, it can be left alone. My Pumpkin is in that boat - his was
probably broken since there's almost a hook-shape at the end.
If the knot is new and/or it starts to grow larger, then it's probably a
chordoma. These should be removed, but it's not an emergency. The main
problem with these at the end of the tail happens when they get big enough
to drag around, and the skin becomes ulcerated and damaged. And of course
as they get larger they take over more of the vertebrae. Dr. Williams has
a web page on these:
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/chordoma.html
My guy Willard had a chordoma lower down on his tail, and it did grow and
his entire tail was amputated. In surgery with the ones at the tail tip,
generally the doctor will go at least a couple of vertebrae above the
chordoma and take the tail apart there, being careful to leave enough skin
to close over the end. It's generally not a major deal as long as the
ferret is up to general anesthesia in general.
Now, if the skin is open, scabbed, or ulcerated, then it could be a skin
tumor; that area is very firm to the touch, and it can be hard to tell
what's bone without an x-ray.
Best wishes,
-Pam S.