From:
Caitlyn Martin
Date: 2004-07-15 18:46:16 UTC
Subject: Re: [ferrethealth] Our sick Ferret
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <3902281.1089924583805.JavaMail.nobody@magnesium.smartgroups.com>
I answered an earlier post without reading the follow
up. My bad.
--- robnrust@myplace.net.au wrote:
> Well, Georgie went to the vet today and had some
> blood taken and the history. The vet palpatated her
> tummy and found a growth the size of an almond
> inside of her.
That can't be good.
> Georgie, who is nearly 8 years old, only weighs
> about half of what she did when she was healthy.
> (Down to 400 grams from around 900.)
We've seen that with our ferrets and it's usually been
cachexia -- weight loss related to cancer. You'll
often see something similar as a result of adrenal
disease even though most adrenal tumors aren't
carcinomas and are really not cancer. I've seen it
with lymphoma. I've seen it with other carcinomas and
sarcomas.
On a less ominous note, insulinoma can cause nausea
and that, in turn, can cause a ferret to eat less and
lose weight.
> The vet was surprised that the blood came back with
> a glucose reading of 3.4, which in Australia I think
> they measure in millimols per litre.
As someone already posted, that translates to a blood
glucose in U.S terms of about 60. That's low and
probably means insulinoma. Whether that's due
strictly to pancreatic tumors or is secondary to other
problems is another issue.
> She is not ruling
> out Insulinoma, but feels that it may also be
> Lymphoma.
Could be.
> Since getting home and having her first dose of Pred
> (1mg of a 5mg tab - such fun carving them up), she's
> a different girl. Into the food and a lot more
> cheery. I can't believe it's the drug - she only
> had one dose!
That definitely sounds like insulinoma and a reaction
to getting her blood glucose back to normal. That,
OTOH, sounds like a fairly high starting dose, and
prednisone can cause a feeling of well being in an
otherwise very ill ferret. That is one of the reasons
it's used in ferrets with lymphoma. The idea is to
improve quality of life rather than to actually treat
the illness. In the case of insulinoma you're raising
the blood glucose which elminiates the symptoms but
does not stop pancreatic tumors from growing.
While it's absolutely great that she's feeling better
you still have that mass to worry about and you still
have the possibility of insulinoma.
I'm not a vet, but having dealt with a few excellent
ferret vets over the past few years I am gussing that
the thing to do would be to get some weight on her,
get her strong and feeling good, and then do an
exploratory surgery to get that mass and find out
what's going on PROVIDED that she is a good surgical
candidate. At her age you and your vet may decide
it's better to just do palleative care to keep her
feeling good until it's her time.
FWIW, both our Podo and Kodo had surgeries when they
were about Georgie's age largely because our vet
thought that they were in life or death situations.
Both came through just fine but we knew that there was
a fair degree of risk.
Once again, Bob Church's Chicken Gravy would probably
help get some weight on her. Besides, my ferrets all
seem to really like it.
All the best,
Caity and the six wonder weasels