Lumbar osteosarcoma in a chinchilla (Chinchilla laniger)

Abstract

An 11-year-old male chinchilla was presented for investigation of progressive weight loss, apathy, anorexia, changes in faecal quality and alopecia on the tip of the tail. On clinical examination, a stiffness of the back legs was noted. Abdominal palpation revealed a hard immobile, irregular structure in the region of the last lumbar vertebrae. Subsequent radiography and ultrasonography suggested the presence of neoplasia. The following day the chinchilla was showing hindlimb paralysis, and there was severe self-trauma to the distal 5 cm of the tail. In view of the rapid clinical deterioration, the chinchilla was euthanased with the owner's consent. Macroscopic examination supported the clinical suspicion of neoplasia. Histopathological examination revealed a reactive osteoblastic osteosarcoma. To the author's knowledge, this is the first report of osteosarcoma in chinchillas.

Biology and Diseases of Chinchillas

“…Schaeffer and Donnelly (1997) reported a uterine leiomyosarcoma in a 1-year-old female chinchilla as an incidental finding at necropsy. Simova-Curd et al (2008) also described a lumbar osteosarcoma in an 11-year-old male chinchilla that presented for anorexia, weight loss, apathy, altered fecal consistency, self-mutilation of the tail tip, and eventual hind limb paralysis. Neoplastic cells infiltrated the lamina propria, submucosa, and muscular layers, and were positive for cytokeratin.…”

Redefining and developing exotic animal medicine

“…JSAP has published recent seminal papers addressing issues facing zoological medicine species: pet chinchillas in three papers since 1998, five ferret papers since 1995, and 15 rabbit papers since 1981 as well as reptile and bird topics (including Lawrence 1983, Chesney 1998, Crossley 2001, Crossley and others 1998, Lu and others 2004, Lloyd and Lewis 2004, Eatwell 2004, Sasai and others 2000, Harcourt‐Brown and Baker 2001, Philips 1986, Monks and Forbes 2006). The topics of two papers recently published in JSAP (first reports of radiotherapy in a ferret [Nakata 2008] and osteosarcoma in a chinchilla [Simova‐Curd 2008]) are an indication of the early and rapidly evolving field of exotic animal medicine.…”

Pleomorphic iridociliary adenocarcinoma with metastasis to the cervical lymph node in a chinchilla (<i>Chinchilla lanigera</i>)

“…Chinchillas have a lifespan of approximately 10 years, and although this is longer than that of other rodents, such as rats, mice, and hamsters, there have been few reports of tumors in chinchillas [6, 10,11,12, 14, 15]. Melanomas, schwannomas, and ciliary adenocarcinomas are extremely rare ocular tumors in mice and rats, as indicated in the National Toxicology Program database and in “New Toxicologic Histopathology” [7, 8].…”