It's been a rough few weeks. It started with a paw lump, which resulted in the vet saying I should keep an eye on it in the meantime--and detoured through a coincidentally discovered and debulked oral lump that turned out to be "inflammatory response" instead of cancer. If she wasn't under anaesthetic just so he could examine that paw, he wouldn't have found the oral lump, she wasn't having visible trouble eating and I had no idea.
But, the paw lump continues to be a problem because I see now that the top of the lump is bleeding. I can take care of the bleeding short term, but I'm pretty sure this isn't a matter of the lump getting cut by something, but more like in the long term it will not close.
My impression is this is cancer, because the last time she oozed blood out of anywhere that's what it was too. I'm definitely calling the vet back and reporting this.
I'm concerned about its location, though. Given where it is... what are the complications if she ends up having to lose the paw? Would this be a situation where it wouldn't be humane for her to keep going, or is missing a paw something other hedgies have coped with before?
But, the paw lump continues to be a problem because I see now that the top of the lump is bleeding. I can take care of the bleeding short term, but I'm pretty sure this isn't a matter of the lump getting cut by something, but more like in the long term it will not close.
My impression is this is cancer, because the last time she oozed blood out of anywhere that's what it was too. I'm definitely calling the vet back and reporting this.
I'm concerned about its location, though. Given where it is... what are the complications if she ends up having to lose the paw? Would this be a situation where it wouldn't be humane for her to keep going, or is missing a paw something other hedgies have coped with before?