AEMV ForumAnal Sac Adenocarcinoma With Metastases and Hypercalcemia in a Ferret (Mustela putorius furo)
Section snippets
Case Presentation
An 8-year-old female-spayed domestic ferret was presented to the Fundació Hospital Clínic Veterinari for anal prolapse. Physical examination revealed 5 mm of prolapsed anal mucosa, slight perianal swelling, and enlarged left and right anal sacs. Initial diagnostic tests, including radiographs, blood tests, and fecal analysis, were unremarkable. Anal sac impaction or infection was determined to be the top differential in this ferret. The ferret was sedated and both anal sacs were emptied. No
Discussion
Anal sac disease is rarely reported in pet ferrets, as the anal sacs are usually surgically removed at a few weeks of age.13 Material stored within the anal sacs is secreted by a glandular complex, which is composed of sebaceous and aprocrine glands. Sebaceous glands surround the first part of the duct, whereas apocrine glands asymmetrically cover the sebaceous glands with some extension over the proximal part of the sac.14
Perianal tumors in ferrets are rarely reported. Tumors of the apocrine
Acknowledgments
The authors thank L. Fresno for surgical management, J. Rodón for PTH-rp determination (IDEXX Laboratories), N. Elias for scientific advice, and the ferret׳s owner, N. Galan, for her unwavering confidence in the authors of this report.
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Cited by (2)
Geriatric Ferrets
2020, Veterinary Clinics of North America - Exotic Animal PracticeHYPERCALCEMIA ASSOCIATED WITH LYMPHOMAS IN THE FERRET (MUSTELA PUTORIUS FURO): FOUR CASES
2019, Journal of Exotic Pet MedicineCitation Excerpt :Reports of hypercalcemia in ferrets are sparse. It has been found in association with lymphomas in ferrets,3–5 as well as anal sac adenocarcinoma (with concurrently elevated PTHrP).6 Given the paucity of published information on the subject, rule-outs for hypercalcemia in ferrets are presumed to be similar to those in dogs and cats.