From:
Bruce Williams, DVM
Date: 2001-09-27 12:06:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Exocrine pancreatic cancer?
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., fhbythesea@a... wrote:
> Many of you know that I had one of my personal ferrets, Dijon, have
surgery
> for insulinoma - they removed the most affected part of the
pancreas and sent
> it away for testing. Dijon is going to be 8 next month. She is
doing okay for
> an older ferret - instead of bouncing back she is steadily
improving. Believe
> me, I'm happy for that.
>
> Since its one of my ferrets - well, it couldn't be a normal cancer -
oh no
> not here! Her cancer is an exocrine cancer - its preventing the
release of
> enzymes to help her digest. From the little I found easily on the
web, it
> doesn't appear to be a normal thing for ferrets. My question for
those having
> gone through this and to the vets that are on this list: whats our
next step?
> My vet has ordered prozyme (I think) for her but it won't be in
until next
> week. She is eating on her own, but her stools are still
diarrhetic. Her
> regular diet is pro plan kitten - yes I know its not great, but
after ECE a
> couple years ago, its the only thing that she will eat. I'm not
pushing it at
> her age. I am supplementing her with a feeding at least once a day
of the
> A/D, baby food and some nupro mixed in. She won't take it from your
hand, but
> will readily take it from a syringe.
>
> Any ideas or things that I can do to help her are welcome. We do
know that
> the cancer is throughout her pancreas and so her insulinoma
symptoms will
> recur - what we are aiming for now is quality. Thanks.
Dear Lisa:
Unfortunately, outside of prozyme and probably a gradual change to a
more digestible diet such as baby food or duck soup (even Pro Plan is
kibble, which will eventually outstrip her ability to digest), there
is not much you can do for a disseminated exocrine malignancy of the
pancreas. The key will be to find a diet that is so easily digestible
that the lack of pancreatic enzymes (which are mostly required for
protein and fat digestion, but not so much for carbohydrates) will be
of less consequence.
These tumors do not tend to metastasize as quickly as they do in
humans, in which they are one of the most aggressive malignancies
(Michael Landon had this particular neoplasm), but they do eventually
destroy the remaining normal pancreas (and likely over time, will do
a number on the insulinoma as well, so do monitor that glucose from
time to time.
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, dVM