From:
skeedybeet@snet.net
Date: 2003-04-30 13:50:06 UTC
Subject: IBD and post-op unkown lump? long
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <4671464.1051710606866.JavaMail.root@thallium.smartgroups.com>
I posted on 4-26 but did not see it, if this is a duplicate please delete. =
Lenny had surgery Feb 19th to confirm IBD. He was in a sad state and at tha=
t point under 2 lbs. The surgery showed very irritated intestines and "para=
lyzed", as the vet said, colon due to bacteria. He also found and successfu=
lly removed a right adrenal tumor which no-one was aware of him having. The=
biopsies confirmed IBD and he was slowly recovering. Three weeks and a day=
before his check-up he started to dry heave as if he were going to vomit. =
He only did this for a few seconds then he would go to the bathroom and he =
would be fine. The vet, not his regular vet, the next day checked him and s=
aid it could be the IBD. Exactly one week later the same thing happened. T=
he next day we went back to the vets and she, Lenny's regular vet, found a =
lump about the size of a quarter on his intestine, just under his skin. She=
believed the heaving was caused by the food passing through and when it re=
ached that point it would upset him until it passed. She was concerned that=
something had developed so quickly after surgery. She said it could be sca=
r tissue, a reaction to the biopsies taken or a tumor. Not the news we want=
ed to hear. She took exrays but they did not show anything. She began him =
on pred .75cc 2x's a day and we scheduled a recheck in 2 days. Suddenly he =
was starting to be his old self again. Playing, eating and his stool was ju=
st about perfect. 2 days later she said the lump seemed to get smaller and =
we should keep giving him the pred and back we would go in 2 more days. 2 =
days later he was better than ever but the lump was still there. We schedul=
ed a recheck for 5 weeks or sooner if his condition were to get worse. He =
was still dry heaving at that point almost every day, even with the pred. T=
hen just before I called my vet again, I decided to give him the pred as so=
on as he woke up, morning and night, instead of at bed time, he hasn't been=
sick since. My problem, we had our five week visit on 4/26 and the lump is=
still there and our vet wants him to have surgery again to either biopsy i=
t or remove it. I hesitate because he hasn't been this healthly and playful=
in months, he is like a kit again even though he just turned 5. She said t=
he lump seemed more dense, not fatty stuff around it I think she said. If i=
t is on his intestine, the worse case scenario, the surgery to remove it, w=
hich they have done before successfully, is a tricky one, the recovery can =
be complicated. She said the reattaching of two pieces of the intestine and=
the healing of it may sometimes not work and this could be fatal. She said=
if it were on the intestine she could also just biopsy it to see what it i=
s and not remove it. She still said it could be scar or fatty tissue or a s=
tomach lymphnode, both are easier to remove. Does anyone have any other tho=
ughts regarding my vets ideas or has this happened to anyone else's ferret.=
Lenny is now a healthy 1154 grams and he has a more sensitive system than=
my other ferret. He vomited his medication after his surgery and was very=
upset when we moved to our new home, ran around like he was crazy fully fl=
uffed up, gorged his food and vomited! I would hate to have to put him thro=
ugh another surgery. Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks once again
Roseann & a happy Lenny
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