From:
Caitlyn Martin
Date: 2006-03-29 23:31:46 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Nyssa Update -- Nearly 8/yo with Lymphoma and now Adrenal
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Hi, everyone,
Nyssa went to the vet today, more than 16 months after
being diagnosed with lymphoma. She has managed to
maintain her weight at 753 grams (1 2/3 lbs.) over the
past two months after a long period of weight loss.
(Thank you, Bob Church's Chicken Gravy). She also now
has at least a couple of masses in her abdomen. Her
vet also is now certain she has adrenal disease. (her
left gland was removed four and a half years ago.)
Her hair loss had been thought to be either adrenal or
a side effect of prolonged high dosages of steroids
(depo medrol plus prednisolone), but she's now sure it
is adrenal. Nyssa has had lots of lots of nasty black
ear wax requiring daily ear cleanings and her vet says
that's another symptom.
Nyssa received her depo medrol injection today and her
vet has ordered lupron (one month depot) to start as
soon as it arrives. She also is continuing her
prednisolone (.27 ml twice a day, 6.7mg/5ml
concentration), which is the most she can tolerate
without getting ulcers again. The higher dosage is
the depo medrol. I also have permission to giver her
as much as 0.10ml (1mg/ml concentration) of
buterphanol (generic for torbugesic) if the .05ml
dosage fails to control any pain she may experience.
So far that's only happened a couple of times. She
will likely sleep on the higher dosage but at least
she'd be comfy.
Finally, Nyssa has been having pain defecating. She's
been on 0.3ml Kaopectate twice a day. Less that that
and she has terrible diarrhea and becomes incontinent.
I had discussed her previous diarrhea/stomach
medication, diarsanyl, from her previous vet with her
current vet who had never used it. Well, our current
vet did some research and... it turns out it's horse
paste! It's mostly made from clay and glycerin. It
does coat the GI tract, it does help with diarrhea,
and it may well be gentler than Kaopectate. So...
it's on order and we'll switch Nyssa back to it, mixed
with water to create the thick brown liquid form that
she and Lady Ayeka had before. Our vet called it
"hokey medicine" but there is clinical evidence it
works well in ferrets and if it's easier on Nyssa she
is all for it.
All of this adds up to relieving symptoms and keeping
Nyssa as comfy as possible for how ever long she has
left. Her vet really didn't expect to be writing new
renewals for her prescriptions at all. Nyssa is
simply amazing everyone. She is still active and at
times downright playful. Nyssa is also just over a
month from her eighth birthday. She wasn't expected
to see her seventh.
I'll post about how she responds to the change from
Kaopectate back to diarasnyl and to the lupron. I
just hope this information may prove helpful to others
with ferrets suffering from lymphoma, primarily in the
GI tract.
All the best,
Caity and the fantastic four
(Nysssa, Ella, Zephyr, and Chin Soon)
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