A long toad to recovery: Surgical removal of a soft tissue sarcoma from a Wyoming toad ( <i>Anaxyrus baxteri</i> )

Abstract At Saratoga National Fish Hatchery, a 3‐year‐old female Wyoming toad ( Anaxyrus baxteri ) presented with a 0.9 cm (l) × 0.5 cm (w) × 1.3 cm (h) pink mass caudodorsal to the right front limb. This was an adult in the Wyoming toad captive breeding colony at Saratoga National Fish Hatchery. Upon palpation, the mass was firm but freely movable within the skin layer. Surgical removal was elected in October 2023. A clean surgery station was prepped, and the toad was anaesthetised using sodium bicarbonate buffered tricaine methanesulfonate (MS‐222). The mass was excised with wide margins, and the incision was closed with three horizontal mattress sutures (4‐0 Ethilon). Histopathological examination identified the mass as a soft tissue sarcoma, with cellular features suggestive of a leiomyosarcoma. The toad survived over 2 years post‐surgery, with no gross or histological evidence of local recurrence or metastasis, meaning excision may have been curative.