From:
Ulrike
Date: 2001-05-12 13:20:00 UTC
Subject: Barney PM and report + vet question...
Hello
Well, Louise phoned me after she'd done his PM, the tumour filled his whole
chest... She thinks a third of his blood must have been in his chest. How
come he was completely fine when this was growing inside him? Or could it
have been a rapidly growing tumour? Can they grow within a week or less
even? Like I said, a slight cough for 2 days and then 2 days breathing
problems and on the 5th day he deteriorated rapidly while at the vets...
Why so quick and why no early warning signs? He didn't have enlarged lymph
nodes, like on the neck or by the legs. Also no other organs were involved,
just one massive tumour.
This is the PM report:
History: Anterior thoracic mass post mortem samples
Diagnosis: Lymphoma (Lymphosarcoma)
Commentary:
These two samples from an anterior thoracic mass are histologically similar.
The mass is characterized by dense sheets of uniform, intermediately
differentiated, lymphoid cells with scant cytoplasm and medium-sized nuclei
(c. 1.5x RBC diameter). The mitotic index is very high (frequently in
excess of 25 per high power field). The histopathology is pathognomonic for
malignant lymphoma, probably lymphoblastic. Since no normal tissue remains
in the samples I cannot identify the organ in which the tumour has
originated: mediastinal lymph node or thymus, most likely.
Malignant lymphoma (lymphosarcoma) is the commonest malignancy of the
domestic ferret. It most commonly arises spontaneously, although there is
increasing evidence of a transmissible form. Several variants of the
disease exist: a small-cell type is more commonly encountered in older
animals while the lymphoblastic form is seen more frequently in younger
(less than 2 years old) ferrets. This latter form is commonly associated
with tumours in multiple organs, causing multi-systemic disease. The
prognosis is always poor.
From Ulrike
and Jilly, Jack, Bella, Tom, Mason, Baby, Dana, Fox, Reno, Rose, Jasmine,
Spike, Hobo, Gremlin and Bobby
Missing Angel, Hope, Igor and Barney
West Wales Ferret Welfare
E-mail: ferretlove@n...
http://www.ferretlove.freeserve.co.uk
Last update 09/05/01
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