From:
"Meryl Faulkner"
Date: 2008-10-15 21:26:38 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Felicity's lump - relief, previous back problem discussed, +melatonin
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
Felicity's lump turned out to be a cyst - probably a sebaceous cyst.
My veterinarian aspirated a small amount of clear fluid from the lump,
and it collapsed.She goes back in for a checkup in a week.
On another topic/problem (that I had not posted about because it
seemed to be resolving), at the end of September, beginning of
October, Felicity seemed to be slowing down, sleeping more than usual,
and did not beg for treats, or climb up onto my bed in the am. Oct 2 I
checked her blood sugar, it was 80 (we were thinking insulinoma). She
also appeared to be losing control of her hind legs.
She visited the vet on Friday the 3rd, and they could find nothing
obvious at first, blood glucose a little low (they got 70), but they
felt her legs bowed more than normal, and she was reluctant to run.
They kept her and Xrayed her. Later the veterinarian called and said
it appeared that there was more of a space between her last lumbar
vertebra and her sacrum than normal.She thought Felicity may have been
injured - my roommate and I could not remember any event - neither of
us had stepped on her, she hadn't fallen as far as we knew. But, she's
a climber and could have climbed up on a counter and
fallen. Today I got a look at the X ray, and could see the small
"space" when the vet pointed it out. Also that Felicity also has a
slight curvature through the lumbar area - sort of a swayback- and the
vet felt her iliac crest looked odd.
Luckily I had recently bought the Marshall's ferret anatomy chart from
Ferretdepot, so looked at that when I got back today. The fact that
today at the vet's her rear legs only slipped out into the splits a
couple of times when she ran across the exam room, and she had the
rounded normal looking back gave the vet encouragement that whatever
is wrong is improving. She suggested another Xray in about a month to
see if the space/pelvic/back appearance changes on the next film.
It'll be interesting to see if she can eventually beg again, or if
whatever is wrong will make her permanently slightly handicapped.
My veterinarian (when I mentioned that I now gave melatonin daily)
said that she had no knowledge of a study showing that it was other
than cosmetic. I said I'd send her the info from the archives. Doing a
search I found(if I understood correctly)that melatonin lowers adrenal
hormones, but in the U of Wisconsin study it did not decrease adrenal
gland tumor growth - but neither did the glands increase in size if I
read correctly. That study also did not have a control group. I
noticed that in the Texas A and M study the glands were palpated and
appeared not to enlarge. Cathy Johnson-Delany DVM in the same journal
seems to come to a similar conclusion that melatonin is best as an
adjunct therapy? ie.use it with lupron or surgery if surgery is OK for
the ferret. I'm thinking my vet may have these articles, and is basing
her opinion on them, but I've printed them out for her in case she
missed them. She is always glad to get info if I find it - even if it
turns out to be something she already has. That makes her so great to
work with. BTW, Does anyone have any more recent references on
melatonin use?
Meryl
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