From:
mstar@speakeasy.net
Date: 2003-12-13 05:39:50 UTC
Subject: 4yo sprite with unusual weight loss (otherwise she's great)
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <6985072.1071293990241.JavaMail.root@thallium.smartgroups.com>
My Cracker has lost a lot of weight over the last 2-3 months... she has gone from roughly 1100g to 700g. Normally she fattens up for the winter like you'd expect.
She has been to the vet once already, a few weeks ago. He gave her a very thorough physical exam but couldn't detect anything, and determined that she did seem to be in fine shape other than the weight loss.
She is eating, pooping and drinking just fine. Activity levels are normal -- better than normal actually, the cooler days have her playing much more. I have been watching her very closely and nothing seems amiss aside from her weight.
Our vet was of the opinion that blood work or other tests would be a "fishing expedition" at that time we took her in, and said if it was his animal he would wait and watch. As Cracker has continued to lose some weight we are taking her back tomorrow. Time to go fish, I guess.
Obviously we are worried about some kind of cancer... are there any other possibilities that come to mind? Any specific tests we should ask about? He already mentioned blood & Xray as possible starting points.
Many thanks in advance.
-- Matt & Cracker (and Eris and Huey)