From:
"VoffSued"
Date: 2003-01-04 20:27:21 UTC
Subject: LEUCOSIS-HELP NEEDED
To: <ferrethealth@smartgroups.com>
Message-ID: <002f01c2b42f$b091c140$deca7850@pumppower>
Hi everyone!
I joined this group a while ago, but until today I just read the postings..=
.=
Sorry about my english but I=B4m from Austria and ist hard to say medical t=
hings...I hope you can guess what I want to tell you and help me!
I owned four ferrets, three now, and care for a sepperate group of two whi=
ch were brought to me because of biting. (I=B4m kind of a shelter person)
One of my jills died from leucosis/leukemia in December. That=B4s what the =
result of the autopsy just brought out.(just phone, they have holidays)
That=B4s her story - and the one of her sister:
She was 9 months old when she died. She was doing normal till one day - sh=
e did not eat a lot and I noticed that one of her teeth was broken. I thoug=
ht this was the reason of no eating. =
In Austria only VERY few vets can deal correctly with ferret diseases and =
thus I went to Vienna (capital) to a well known vet to let her tooth be ope=
rated. The vets where I live said she=B4s healthy and all o.k., but I didn=
=B4t believe... =
She did eat very little and got very week.
I had to wait one week because there was no earlier apointment. The vet sai=
d the tooth was ok, but she was treated against laryngitis. It didn=B4t get=
much better.The vet said the reason was her weakness because of eating lit=
tle.
There were no big swollen lymph nodes to see. She did not have contact to a=
ny cats and no one thought of leucosis. =
A few days before her death in her urine were little white particles.. one=
day she did not move a lot, I went immediately to the vet but no one could=
help...the vet from vienne was on the phone when she died that evening.
Here many ferrets with age below one year die and no one knows why...people=
won=B4t make autopsies... I believe that many of them die from leucosis, j=
ust as my little girl.
I own her sister, too, so I was very worried. Floh (which would be flea in =
english) has swollen lymph nodes, also coughes and spits if someone graps h=
er larynx (that=B4s how the vets look if they have laryngitis, here in aust=
ria).
Ther parents of Floh and Pebbles are from a pet shop, bought together, so m=
aybe related to eachother. They came to me in April, were born in February =
(!).
Floh is treated with antibiotics (Cefazid) and Baypamun-syringe. I don=B4t=
know if it has the same name in the US, its a medication to stabilize her =
immune system. (paramunit=E4tsinducer if someone understands that :-))
There are no visible swollen lymph nodes,as on the pics whith leucosis-ill =
ferrets, but you can fell that they are a little bit swollen.
She ist still doing fine and playing,no weakness as her sister had. =
But today her urine just looked like her sister=B4s, a few days before she=
died.
My male ferrets, which are not related to the jills and older (already neut=
ered) are healthy, so ist the sepperate group.
There=B4s a german vet, Dr Henke, who has already treated ferrets sufferin=
g from leucosis by vaccinate with the vaccination for cats against leucosis=
and they got better/healthy.
But if the ferrets are young she says that won=B4t work in most cases becau=
se of the fast course of the illness and because the swollen lymph nodes ar=
e inside the body. (if someone can understand german, there=B4s the link: w=
ww.frettchendoc.de) =
A blood test will be done on monday to see if the number of the leucozytes =
is high, and thus she=B4ll probably have leucosis, or if the number is norm=
al and ist=B4s "just" an infection. The vets believe strongly that it is le=
ucosis because of the death of Floh=B4s sister.
Here in austria no one knows really what to do, not even the university cli=
nic or well known vets that treat many ferrets.
My vet only knows few things and the things Dr Henke writes on her HP...but=
even she can=B4t help a lot with the leucosis form juvenile ferrets get...=
.I could not find information on this list and very little in the web...
is there really no big chance to safe the life of floh?
I hope you can help us!
Regards Tanja and poor Floh