From:
"Meryl Faulkner"
Date: 2008-11-10 23:25:48 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Re: Ferret with normal bg but hind leg weakness - answer on re- Xray
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
Felicity was Xrayed again on Saturday the 8th and when the
veterinarian showed me the Xray it was not good news. Not at the
original site (the junction of the lumbar sacral spine) but a little
further forward there was a noticeable dark small lesion. Perhaps an
enlarged lymph node pressing upward the veterinarian said, or a tumor.
And it looked as though it extended forward slightly into her spinal
cord. I asked why she had improved the previous month when the
symptoms - not so severe - had appeared, and my vet said it was
probably due to the fact that at that time she gave Felicity a shot of
pred, and that may have counteracted the symptoms. She suggested that
we first rule out cryptococcus. I had said that her first owner never
left her out, but that she had gotten outside once a few years ago and
been gone overnight. The vet said it was necessary to rule out
cryptococcus since the only treatment for a tumor would be pred, and
that if she had a fungal infection the pred would suppress her immune
system and it might cause a worse infection with the cryptococcus. She
took a sample(blood I assume), gave Felicity one shot of pred (which
she felt would not do any harm) and had me wait until today for the
crypto result. Turned out it was negative, so we are looking at a
tumor - bummer -so I left with some liquid prednisolone - and advice
to start her also on an antibiotic (baytril)just in case there was a
bacterial infection. Felicity's hind legs seem a tiny bit more active,
and the shot the vet gave her seemed to make her a little livelier,
but the vet seemed to think the leg movements were reflex. I noticed
this morning that she could use one hind leg to scratch an area on her
neck, and the vet and I had a discussion about whether that was reflex
or voluntary control. Clutching at straws here since this is a
downhill road I suspect. Someone off list said that pred had worked
well for her with one ferret for a while, so I'm hoping for at least
some temporary improvement.
I'll update the list with Felicity's progress.
Meryl
------------------------------------
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
mailto:ferrethealth-digest@yahoogroups.com
mailto:ferrethealth-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
ferrethealth-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/