Firby had an operation to remove a lump from near her groin. That actually healed up pretty well and is already growing back fur. However, as a complication of the surgery she developed peripheral vasculitis. The first sign was that her ears looked dark and bruised on the night of the surgery and the tips gradually died off. As this was happening we began to find hard scabby areas on her back two of which came off like burn blisters and were open sores. The areas of dead tissue grew and grew but the layer of dead skin and fur remained in place. The vet called it 'nature's bandage' and it protected the healing skin underneath.

After four weeks it was loosening around the edges and one day it caught and tore on the lip of the cage. After that she was isolated from her cage mates in a low level cage for a week. Two days before this image was taken, five weeks after surgery, the entire 'toupee' of fur and skin came off. The pink margins show the extent to which she has already healed from the outside in but it is a huge wound.

She's been on a diet of Nutrical, Lectade, cooked liver. ham, turkey, spinach as well as all the other usual diet that she eats. Because of this she's not lost weight apart from in the first two or three days following surgery and I am sure it has helped promote such fast healing... even her survival at all which at times I feared was in doubt.

She's a bright wee thing, hasn't complained throughout, still bosses her cagemates around, still climbs and makes mischief and apart from running if she sees me holding a syringe (from when we had to wash the wound out with saline) she is still keen to be held and to interact.