From:
jblivingston2003@yahoo.com
Date: 2004-02-15 07:00:53 UTC
Subject: Elmo + Harold, "Pulling them through" Aleutian follow up
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <15101782.1076853075497.JavaMail.nobody@strontium.smartgroups.com>
Elmo and Harold tested positive to Aluetian on both the ELISA and CEP test=
s; overkill but we had to be sure. Harold (8 years as of Tuesday) and Bert =
(4 years) had had surgery for adrenal cancer in November 2003. Unfortunatel=
y Bert did not recover and had to have a second operation in January as the=
re was a lesion on her right adrenal. By Spring, Bert appeared to have full=
y recovered - labs were excellent and was deemed healthy on her "well" chec=
kup in April. I did not have her in a carrier and I allowed her to walk on =
the floor while waiting for the vet - never suspecting that I was exposing =
her. She became symptomatic (tarry feces, tremors, lethargy, seizures withi=
n days of that visit and due to her compromised immune system dropped dead =
within six weeks (literally in my hands). These ferrets had had no outside =
contact with other ferrets, no one in the household had had contact with ot=
her ferrets, nor were there any new introductions in the last five years or=
home / cage changes. The only time that they were ever even out of their e=
nvrionment was when they made trips to the (former) vet for checkups, surge=
ry and boarding. My new vet and I worked backwards and came to the conclus=
ion that Bert was "ground zero". Unfortunately, Bert passed it on to her br=
others before dying. Due to their comprimised immune systems, Harold's canc=
er returned quickly. Elmo (4 years), who had shown no previous / obvious sy=
mptoms of cancer, actually had tumors on his pancreas and adrenal glands. T=
he animals were in my mother's care as I was out of town and she did not re=
alize how sick they were. When I returned home in July, Elmo had gone from =
3.2 pounds to 1.1 pounds, Harold also had dramatic weight loss. They're hai=
r had thinned out throughout their bodies, hind leg weakness / paralysis, s=
eizures et al.) I immediately took them to their current vet, where he star=
ted supportive care - intravenous fluid therapy, syringe feeding, anti infl=
ammatory drugs. They were literally at death's door. Due to the severity of=
their cancer symptoms, the vet felt that it was imperative that they have =
immediate surgery. Harold's cancer was extensive, pancreatic and adrenal. (=
This was 8 months after previous surgery and follow up exams / labs earlier=
that year had shown that he was fine.) Elmo, the 4 year old was a complete=
ly different story - he had pancreatic tumors and adrenal gland tumors, but=
the labs said that they weren't malignant. My vet ran the labs twice, but =
still thinks that they 9the lab) messed up the results.I KNOW that this is =
a lifetime illness. When I say that I pulled them through, I meant that the=
y are currently out of critical stage and beginning to show signs of recove=
ry after seven horrible months. Harold has bounced back much better / quick=
er than Elmo. Sonograms have shown no return of the cancer to date. They ar=
e no longer having seizures and while there is a bit of drag in Harold's hi=
nd quarters it is nothing like before. Harold's hair has grown back complet=
ely. They are still on anti inflamamatories, ear drops (twice daily) and do=
ses of vitamins which I have to give orally as they will not eat it if it i=
s placed in their food. when I introduced baby food to their diet it made a=
dramatic difference to their quality of life. (I don't think that this is=
coincidental.) Elmo's hair is finally growing back and they are no longer =
as lethargic as they once were. They also are romping around again and Elmo=
is chattering up a storm. I think the baby food gave the other pallative c=
are measurements a "boost". I did not mean to imply that they were "cured" =
of Aleutian in my previous question regarding advice on change of baby food=
flavor, just that they are no longer on death's door - at least for the ti=
me being. I'm sorry for any misunderstanding I might have caused. =