From:
bama1803@aol.com
Date: 2004-01-22 09:15:04 UTC
Subject: Liver cancer?
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <3913578.1074762904781.JavaMail.root@indium.smartgroups.com>
My 4 year old female ferret has been diagnosed by our vet with probable liv=
er cancer. January 2003 I noticed that she had swollen nodes in her neck, =
so I took her to the vet. She had no other symptoms, weight & appetite were=
good, so he wanted to watch her. There were no other nodes found to be swo=
llen.
Decemeber 5, just last month, she had an upper respiratory infection, so I =
took her to a vet that is much closer. I showed him the nodes, which were n=
o larger than 11 months before, and he agreed that they should just be watc=
hed, and that he did not suspect lymphoma because she had had them so long.=
She responded well to the Amoxi drops that were prescribed.
Last week I noticed that the nodes on her neck had increased in size, so we=
went back to the last vet for evaluation. Her weight had dropped from 807 =
grams December 5 to 749 grams. This was January 21. No additional nodes wer=
e found to be swollen, but he did find a questionable lump/mass upon exam i=
n her abdomen, so he did an ultrasound. It showed the liver quite enlarged =
with a mass extending from it. He said that it was not well defined, so tha=
t it would be difficult to actually remove a lobe where the large mass is. =
Also, there were 2-4 other smaller masses beside the liver which may or may=
not be lymph nodes that are cancerous. The spleen looked normal. He says t=
hat she does not have many options, although we could do blood work to see =
if she is a candidate for surgery. Should we opt to not do surgery, we can =
just keep her comfortable. He gave her a shot of dexamethasone and Amoxi dr=
ops. Her temp was 103.2, I think, but he wanted to give the antibiotic in t=
he event there is an infection. At this point, because of his saying how di=
fficult the surgery would be and that it wouldn't buy her much time because=
she's an older ferret anyway, I have decided to just keep her comfortable.=
I would like an opinion from a veterinarian on the list should any read my=
post.
Thanks,
Rhea Fulmer
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