From:
"FerretGM"
Date: 2008-11-18 16:34:08 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Baby: Biopsy results - liver thought to be affected by IBD
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
I don't have the biopsy results in front of me, but the vet said that
they showed that Baby does not have any type of liver cancer. The
liver is being affected primarily by gastrointestinal inflammation;
some changes also indicate that there may be some excess adrenal
hormones starting to affect the liver. The lymph nodes in around the
stomach that were enlarged also showed signs of being affected by the
GI tract inflammation. (In addition, we are also pretty sure it's not
lymphoma because many of the types of WBC were *low* on two separate
sets of bloodwork).
For history, Baby had apparently had a small piece of relatively hard
rubber in his stomach for about 3 years, before it lodged in his large
intestine last November/December, and was removed in emergency
surgery. He had surgery for adhesions a few months later (February, I
think). He was doing ok until May, at which point he became somewhat
anorexic. I had been feeding him about 2x/day on carnivore care (he
hides from me a lot, and i often cannot find him for a 3rd feeding),
and he has maintained his weight.
For treatment, the vet wants me to keep him on Denosyl, and give the
Hill's z/d kibble, continue the lactulose and amoxi. She does not
want to give prednisolone because his liver is not doing so well at
the moment. This is where I get confused -- if the liver is being
affected by the GI tract inflammation, wouldn't it be better to give
the pred, and thus resolve the liver problem? His liver is not
normal, but it's not like his values were tremendously off standard.
Also, shouldn't we give additional antibiotics? We did Flagyl, but
only for 7 days after surgery.
I worry about this approach because (1) he is rather stubborn about
what he eats - I have little hope that he will eat the z/d any better
than the l/d - and (2) the Denosyl is very hard to administer, and I
don't know how long I will be able to keep giving it.
The Denosyl cannot be compounded by a pharmacy, and judging by his
reactions, it's just as bad as Flagyl. I've tried every fluid I can
think of to mix it with (honey, maple syrup, maraschino cherry juice,
plain water) and he's breaking out in full-body sweats now, when he
gets the meds.
Anyway, given that we are trying to get the IBD to resolve with just
diet change and liver supplements, do you think that I should push for
the prednisolone as well?
Thanks for any advice --
F.
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