From:
Steve Austin
Date: 2002-05-10 00:25:00 UTC
Subject: Myeloma and lymphoma in a climate of ADV
I am so sorry to hear about your losses.
I am not a vet, but I see no reason for ADV to cause any harm
or problems in making the appropriate diagnosis.
You still have to treat the ferret's symptoms, and
look for underlying causes. ADV positive ferrets
can get adrenal disease, insulinoma,etc. I think
the best thing would be to test the ferrets for ADV
up front, before they are ill, and if positive you have
something for the vet to keep in the back of his/her mind
if the ferret gets ill.
If the ferret is suspicious for ADV and part of your workup
includes running this test ( sort of like when a human is ill
from a mysterious illness and HIV is added to the list of tests)
it shouldn't take away from the rest of the work up or testing,
or treatments. You can send the test using a capillary tube, and
a nail clip if need be, or have the vet draw the blood. I packed it
and mailed it to both labs involved, and found the process to be
easy, quick and results were back in a few days. I know it is
painful waiting for the results, and worrying about them. If treatment
is needed for something while the tests are pending, I don't see why it
shouldn't be
done, or other tests ordered if need be.
I don't want to add any pain to what you are already going through,
and I understand you are frustrated, but yes, ADV is not the
only diagnosis, and is probably a rarer cause of most ferret
illness, but it should be considered in certain cases, and
probably screened for.
Patty K.
ps. Living in the north east, I see ADV as being as prevalent as
lets say feline leukemia- to give it some perspective. It is not
a rare finding as far as I can tell, and although we don't know
what the diagnosis really means and can't predict how the ferret
will be affected, it is worth being aware of and testing for- in my
opinion.
.
>
> My point? Just that we don't get so get caught up in
> ADV to the point we forget all the other nasty things
> out there that kill our ferrets. In this case, there
> wasn't really anything that could have been done for
> my ferrets while I wasted time and energy being
> hysterical worrying about ADV. And I have a vet who
> never forgets those other things, bless her. But the
> ferret community does seem to get fixated on one
> disease over the rest at times, and it's important not
> to let that happen because if things had been just a
> bit different, it COULD have harmed them...
>
> tansy
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