Stranded otter had testicular cancer
BY MICHAEL ARMSTRONG
STAFF WRITER
A distressed male otter found near Bishop's Beach last month suffered from advanced testicular cancer, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist reported last week. The otter had been reported hauling itself with difficulty on the beach on March 29 and was picked up by a marine mammal stranding network volunteer. After Dr. Dorothy Sherwood of Homer Veterinary Clinic evaluated the otter in consultation with Dr. Pam Tuomi of the Alaska SeaLife Center, the otter was euthanized.
Dr. Kathy Burek of the Alaska Veterinary Pathology Service did a necropsy and found the otter had an enlarged left testicle with tumors, said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Verena Gill. The otter, about 15 years old, had a ruptured spleen with tumors. Lymph glands and the liver also had extensive tumors. Gill said the liver normally looks smooth like a tongue, but the otter's liver had numerous mottled nodules.
http://homernews.com/stories/040809/news_3_002.shtmlWhat causes cancer in otters?