From:
Bruce Williams, DVM
Date: 2001-10-24 13:52:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Lymphosarcoma Questions
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., "Dale Nupp" <dale_nupp@i...> wrote:
> Hello all:
> I have a very sick fuzzy. Two weeks ago I rushed her to the
vet with
> pooping and vomiting blood. At the time we thought Chloe (the most
perfect
> DEW in the whole wide world) had ulcers brought on by some stress.
The vet
> treated her with tagamet, flagyl, amoxy, fluids and some other
stuff. After
> a couple of days she was sent home. Over the past two weeks Chloe
has not
> been eating and has lost so much weight. I took her back to the
vet today.
> The vet will again stabilize her and take an x-ray. Upon
examination, the
> vet seemed to feel a lump under the right ribcage. The vet said to
consider
> lymphosarcoma.
While this is a possibility for any lump, most lumps in lymphoma are
at the site of lymph nodes, and the ribcage really isn't a site for a
lymph node. I wouldn't say definitely not, but it certainly isn't
the first place that we think of. However, if there is a lump here,
the best thing to do is to at least aspirate it, or better yet,
remove for analysis.
A blood test several weeks ago
> showed elevated liver enzymes and an elevated white count with a bg
level of
> 53. I think the low bg level is due to her lack of eating and not
> insulinoma. She does not appear to be in any pain.
While it is good to know what tests are elevated, it really provides
little information for interpretation. It is important to know how
much they are elevated, especially the WBC count when considering a
possibility of lymphoma. Regarding the blood glucose level, this
level strongly suggests insulinoma. Even ferrets that are not eating
well, can generally maintain their glucose in the normal range. If
there are no noticeable signs of hypoglycemia, a repeat BG coupled
with an insulin test would be in order. I DON'T recommend fasting
blood glucose levels in ferrets who are already showing evidence of
hypoglycemia - you may precipitate a seizure.
> I guess my fundamental question is whether or not there are any
specific
> signs of lymphosarcoma other than a biopsy or exploratory surgery.
Also, is
> any treatment worth pursuing.
In this case, I would suggest some radiographs or an ultrasound and a
biopsy of the lump prior to an exploratory surgery. Although there
are some holes in the information here, I can't really recommend
exploratory surgery, at least not until the possiblity of insulinoma
has been explored better and that mysterious lump has been looked at
in more detail.
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, dVM