From:
Betty
Date: 2001-03-15 03:46:00 UTC
Subject: Re: [Ferret-Health-list] Digest Number 64
Hi Sukie;
Thank you but you don't have to be sorry. Although I love these little
guys very much and I knew what I was getting into when I brought the
home... having the experiences only makes me a better ferret owner and
may improve things for ferrets coming to my home with lymphoma in the
future. It was hard losing them all the same...
I'm wondering if it is the same trigger, or different ones depending on
the kind of lymphoma present in the home. I keep thinking about things
like chicken pox and how some people have a natural immunity to it. And
of course, can't rule out environmental factors as well. Do these same
things work in ferrets as well? I wonder if other countries have any
records of cases of lymphoma and if there is a correlation to area and
what it is close to.. i.e. power plant, electrical stations, etc.
Is it at all possible to get vet students interested in following
certain trends so that it is an ongoing project that keeps passing
hands? Sorry if this doesn't sound right... I'm awfully tired right now.
And thank you Katharine for your contribution as well...
Betty and Her Blurry Eyes
Sukie Crandall wrote:
>Betty, there is the possibility that there might be a viral trigger
>for lymphoma. Two things that make it difficult to figure out are:
>if there is one then the virus may be silent enough that exposure
>would not be known, and secondly that it is very difficult to find
>such triggers so such investigations may take years. There was
>project at the Dept. of Comparative Medicine of MIT trying to find
>one in ferrets, but I believe that it had to stop after a while.
>We, too, have had it in groupings here in our home, and I am very
>sorry that you had to experience this.