From:
"Susann"
Date: 2007-03-18 14:02:09 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Hemangiosarcoma/grossly enlarged lymph nodes in young Katrina survivor
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
Hi,
My beautiful, gentle Coco died yesterday - he was one of a handful
of ferrets rescued alive after Katrina. He was, by our best
estimates, only about two years old.
My question concerns hemangiocarcoma, which is the "best guess"
diagnosis the emergency on-call vet and a vet consulting by phone
from [veterinary school] came up with before Coco went into arrest and died.
Coco had a funny way of breathing...shallow and rapid breaths, even
when resting...which I thought might have been due to an injury at
some point in the past. My regular vet had done a palpation exam
thinking maybe he had a herniated diaphragm, but everything seemed
to be in its place. Coco had no problems with appetite, was very
playful, just a happy and very active young ferret.
Right up until mid-afternoon yesterday, Coco seemed fine. Around 4
p.m. he came to me and his breathing seemed 10x worse than usual. He
was clearly in distress and seemed to be asking for help. I thought
maybe he had fallen and cracked a rib or something. Within an hour
he was being examined by the vet on emergency call for our county.
Possibilities she raised were 1) cardiomyopathy, despite his youth;
2) pneumonia 3) lymphosarcoma (despite no wasting) and 4) a
herniated diaphragm.
The Xrays showed a very large mass right where the lymph nodes are.
The Xray was cloudy due to accumulated fluid, so she couldn't tell
whether the mass was just badly enlarged lymph nodes or a separate
tumor altogether. The vet used a term for this location that I can't
remember, but on the Xray it looked like the base of his throat,
right above the lungs and heart, under the sternum. There was a
great deal of fluid around his lungs that was pressing in on them,
causing the difficulty in breathing. The heart was slightly enlarged
but she said it was also 'pushed out of place' by this mass. The
lungs themselves were so cloudy it was hard to get a good read.
She tried draining off some fluid around the lungs to help Coco
breathe easier, but she could only get a small bit and it was red.
Not frank blood, but milky blood. A very bad sign. She centrifuged
the red blood cells out and the result was a white, milky fluid.
She suggested taking him to [vet school] for an ultrasound, hopefully a
definitive diagnosis and better success at aspirating the fluid, but
when she called to let them know I was coming, they basically said
why? They agreed on a diagnosis of hemangiosarcoma that may have
ruptured. They felt aggressive intervention might give Coco a week
or maybe 3 months but it would not be a pleasant time for him. The
cancer would return and would be even more aggressive. Last night,
as he continued to worsen steadily, they felt he might not even
survive the 45-minute drive to [vet school].
Almost while this conversation was taking place, Coco began to
crash. He turned blue, gasped for air and then went into apparent
cardiac arrest. He died with his eyes open. We had been at the vet
hospital for less than two hours.
Questions for anyone who may have helpful info or insights? - Isn't
this type of hemangiosarcoma in ferrets pretty rare? How can a two-
year-old be eating and happy, and then die of cancer a couple of
hours later?
Please help me understand what happened, I really loved that gentle
little survivor boy and am just missing him so much.
Susann Thiel
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