Squamous Cell Carcinoma

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thistlesmom

thistlesmom

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 3, 2009
Messages
68
Location
Edmonton, Canada
Hi,

A few of you are familiar with poor little Thistle and her health issues. There are a few posts in here about her front leg amputation and her mrsa problems. After the leg was amputated December 2009 it was discovered that she had squamous cell carcinoma and mrsa in the leg and after that all seemed well.

She had a little bump on her head for over a year which the vet believed was an ingrown quill. In November 2010 I noticed it was growing, took her to the vet, she was poking at it when it literally popped off in her hand. Creepy to say the least. She figured it was an ingrown quill but she ended up sending it away to be tested, for scientific reasons. The wound healed well for about 2 weeks and then got infected and lumpy. I took her back and they figured it was mrsa again, which I am scared of as I got it last time too and it's unpleasant times but turns out they now think it's squamous cell carcinoma.

Does anyone have any experience with these tumours? She obviously had it before on her leg. The vet is recommending removing it through surgery. I hate to have to be weighing the pros and cons but she is 4.5 years old (5 in may) and has already had an amputation of her leg. If I remove it will it just pop up again? Am I putting her through more torture than it's worth? I also hate that money is an issue but in reality I am in law school and have a very low income and have literally spent thousands of dollars on her vet care over the last 1.5 years. I just hate to put her through all this if it's just going to keep coming back everywhere :(

Help.....
 
I just wanted to stress that I really want to do anything to heal Thistle, I love her to death and didn't mean to seem cold about pros and cons. I just wanted to know if people had experience with this type of cancer and what the results have been. I just don't want to torture her for no reason. The amputation was a huge ordeal for her.
 
My experience with squamous cell carcinoma was in the mouth and the hedgehog had to be euthanized within weeks of its discovery as it grew and spread very quickly.

A couple of things I consider when dealing with tumors and whether or not to do surgery is to consider the hedgehog's age and condition. I consider where the tumor is located, how large it is, and discuss with doc the difficulty in the surgery involved. We discuss prior medical history, whether or not we think the surgery will reduce quality of life, or give quality of life, etc.

Squamous cell carcinomas are known to be aggressive in our hedgehogs. They tend to grow fast and spread fast, this is based on my own experience and what I remember reading in messages from others. Most often these seem to be reported as appearing in the mouth though. Surgery isn't often a choice as often this tumor has already spread. However, without knowing 100% that this is an SCC I would still consider surgery if the tumor is small and doc thinks he/she can get it all off without complications.
 
Thanks Kalandra. It's so hard as she is acting the same, her sweet little self, otherwise. But I know that is zero indication of how she is feeling as when she had the leg cancer it literally ate off part of her toes and she still ran around tubing like normal. She is way tougher than I am.

I know the general life expectancy of hedgehogs but any experience with surgery in ones of this age?
 
I've had a couple have surgery that were over 4. All have done fine. I think I've been blessed in that department. All were strong at the time of surgery too. Take into consideration how active they are, is weight hard to keep on them, or has weight loss been noticed, etc.

Rose turned 4 in November and her last surgery was late December. She is a strong gal. Her weight was good, her activity levels returned within days of the surgery. Her last surgery actually was quite deep and the tumor much larger than we expected. The tumor was located near the back of her jaw and under muscle. She had more swelling this time, but it didn't seem to slow her down much. Today she is very perky, and quite sassy, its been 3 weeks. You can see images of her with her stitches on here. Her tumor was a mast cell cancer and is a return of a cancer we had removed in August.
 
Thanks! I have actually already taken a look at little Rose, I guess I just didn't realize her age. That is comforting. Thistle has a steady weight, she's a bit chubbier since the loss of her leg as she can't wheel anymore (her balance is ridiculous) but she is still active at night and tubes and what not. She eats and drinks normally. She is still super sweet and nice. In other words, other than this infected tumour on her head she seems healthy.

I have emailed my vet about 20 questions and am waiting to hear back, I worry about healing and recovery and what not.
 
I've done a few surgeries on older ones. It all depends on the individual hedgehog and how invasive the surgery is. All have come through it just fine except for Kesia but she had a tumour in her head behind her eye and did not make it through surgery.

I agree with Julie. Discuss it with her doc and see what he thinks.

Poor Thistle and you. She has been through so much.
 
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