From:
marcmag@uol.com.br
Date: 2003-03-19 23:57:54 UTC
Subject: Enteritis
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <6128854.1048115684787.JavaMail.root@scandium>
Hi, My name is Marco, I leave in Rio de Janeiro , Brasil. =
=
First I wanna thank all you in this list for the great help you provide us =
in all this time.
Thank you very much specially Drs Murray, Willians, Ruth and all the other=
s that help to make this list so precious, and apologises to you all for m=
y bad english.
Parvati, is our beloved 6y old female cinamon small fuzzy , who was dia=
gnosed with insulinoma on April/02. =
I really need some help and a second opinion about our treatment at that =
point. In order to make it possible , I'll have to tell a brief historic of=
her case and after that I=B4'll go to some questions.
She went trough a partial pancreatectomy on May/02 with the unique surgeon=
here in a Brazil with a good experience on this kind of proceedments in Fe=
rrets.
Her pancreas had a clear node on the extremity of the organ , we also remo=
ved a huge ugly growth she had in the right lobe of the liver, and also re=
moved her left adrenal (which appeared to be unhealthy) in the same surger=
y. The surgeon thought about the possibilty of a limphosarcoma causing all =
this, but it wasn=B4t confirmed. =
The hystopatology's result came, and it was (I=B4ll try to translate from=
my language to yours this clinical terms wich is difficult to me, but let =
see) like this:
Liver - Hepatic Carcinoma grade 1 , also observed diffused hepatic degenera=
cy.
Left adrenal - Benign hiperplasia on adrenal's cortex.
Pancreas - Tissue considered to be of normal constitution.
Nevertheless, despite the negative insulinoma result on the histo, al=
l the classic insulinoma symptoms came back before than we expected(Like 2 =
months after surgery) again with: letargy , hind legs weekness and glucose =
level dropping again around 48.
Beyond the possibility of a lab mistake, I only understood her case when =
I red in this list about similar ones: Microscopic malignant islet cells tu=
mors causing the symptoms, even if attended by a bigger growt which could =
be benign.
Well, Insulinoma anyway...
At that point my former vet did not prescribed preds ( and I worry about t=
hat) but only proglicem. =
She got stable for some time, but in December her glucose level started t=
o fall again, reaching as low as 27 about 45 days ago. That=B4s when my act=
ual vet put her on prednisolone (0.2 mg each day). She had an increase in=
glu /lv but her spleenomegally is very serious now , her belly is so big =
she's getting trouble to walk. =
The ultrasound shows that, despite been huge, there's no growths on the =
spleen. Her liver is also enlarged, moderatly, and has no visible growths =
too. She has indeed 2 new growths in the pancreas region, but We can't kno=
w for shure if they are really on the pancreas or if they are limphnodes ne=
ar it. =
Her right adrenal got a little bigger after the surgery (0.8mm) and remain=
ed the same size since then. =
Last blood test shows normal levels on the hepatic enzimes. =
My vet is convinced that a surgery is in order to get that spleen out, but=
he appears to be uncertain about messing with her pancreas again. I know i=
t=B4s a difficult decision, but I have a strong feeling that a surgery co=
uld be good, and I'm anguished with the possibility of just medications cou=
ld be the wrong path.
So I have some questions to the doctors and to the many very experienced =
Ferret lovers on this list:
.1- Is it true that in insulinoma cases, a surgery ,If the ferret is a good=
candidate, is ever the best treatment ? Or this statement is valid only =
for the first one? =
Or putting in another way: Even having already went trough a partial pa=
ncreatectomy(about 50% of the organ) last year, will be the best choice in=
terms of time and quality of life to make an exploratory and try a nodulec=
tomy on the new growths?
. 2- What are the elements we can use to establish if she is a good surgery=
candidate anyway? Is the glucose level one of then?
If yes, what can be considered safe? =
. 3- My vet told me that in cases of insulinoma that included spleenomegal=
ly; if the spleen "shrinks" when Prednisone is introduced (which absolutel=
ly did'nt hapen to her untill now) , it could be an indicative that a linfo=
ma is present too. Is it sounds? =
Or as I have red many times in this list, the unique way to diagnose linfo =
is with an aspiration or biopsy in a organ or limphnode?
. 4- Considering all that we read about growths in the liver rarely being p=
rimary caused, do you think that the hepatic carcinoma she had could be a m=
etastasis from her left adrenal ?
. 5- She has no bold spots, only a slower growht of her fur. As I said her=
remaining adrenal had grown to 0.8 mm . Do you think that, going to surge=
ry we may think about to remove it?
. 6- She's having black and tarry pooping now (but not all the times) and =
whining when pooping, all times (not when urinating just when pooping) I do=
n't now Why. Must we just start with some ulcer medication? Or are there a=
ny specific tests to do before?
Any answer will be very,very Wellcomed.
Thank you in advance and it's a Great pleasure to talk with you!
Greetings, and God Bless you and all of us in this difficult times.
A big hug!
Marco
=
To: "FerretHeathList" <ferrethealth@smartgroups.com>,
<merrell.mcdaniel-1@nasa.gov>
From: "katharine" <katharine@nettally.com>
Message-ID: <008901c2ee73$5d399620$75112cc7@D1CW2811>
I raise baby opossums too! As far as I have been able to determine, ECE do=
es not cross species. I asked Dr. Kemmerer about this early on. Of course=
, the wildlife and the ferrets have no contact at all and I follow strict d=
isinfecting between them.
The main wildlife I do NOT allow in my home is raccoons. Not only can they=
carry the canine (and feline) distemper virus, they can also be a carrier =
of ADV to mink. Not worth the chance.
Katharin