From:
Caitlyn Martin
Date: 2010-01-15 17:20:27 UTC
Subject: Re: [ferrethealth] Experiences with senior ferrets in surgeries?
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
Hi,
>> I was wondering when others have decided to opt for surgery in a senior
>> ferret, what factors helped you decide (were they healthy in every other
>> way, was it life or death, did they have any other medical issues), what
>> complications were experienced and what were the outcomes?
We've chosen to do surgery on ferrets over the age of seven twice and
at just about age eight once. In two of the three cases it was life
or death. In all three cases the ferrets were healthy in every other
way, strong, and appeared to be unusually good surgical candidates for
their age.
Podo had adrenal surgery at around age seven and a half at the advice
of our vet. The only thing our vet did that was out of the ordinary
was to switch from isoflurane to sevoflurane for the anesthetic.
Sevoflurane is more expensive but has fewer risks for older or
compromised ferrets. It turned out Podo had a huge right adrenal
tumor with the vena cava involved. Our vet at the time said that if
he knew that before going in he would not have done surgery. Once he
had Podo opened up he decided to go ahead, ligated the vena cava, and
managed to remove the entire gland/tumor. There were no complications
and Podo recovered well.
A few months later Kodo (Podo's brother, from the same litter at a lab
that bred them) had insulinoma. No matter how much pediapred we tried
we couldn't get his blood glucose higher than 36 and our vet sent us
for a second opinion. The two vets decided it was life or death for
Kodo. He had the surgery (again with sevoflurane for anesthesia),
recovered well, but insulinoma symptoms and low blood glucose returned
after four months. The difference is that after the surgery pediapred
(prednisolone) could relieve his symptoms and maintain a normal blood
glucose. Kodo lived for more than a year and a half after surgery and
it was lymphoma that eventually caused us to let him go. He had a
very good quality of life for most of that time.
A couple of months later Podo, age eight, showed insulinoma symptoms
as well and like Kodo he got no real relief from pediapred, which also
caused diarrhea for him. The same two vets decided for surgery again.
Podo seemed to come through surgery just fine but while waking up
from anesthesia his heart stopped. Our vet was able to revive him but
wasn't sure if there would be brain damage or not. Podo had a long,
slow recovery period but was very much his old self at first and then
acted like a younger version of his old self once he was healthy
again, something we've often seen after successful insulinoma surgery.
Podo went ten months without insulinoma symptoms and then was
maintained on a low or moderate dosage of pediapred for the rest of
his life. He lived two years after that surgery with a good quality
of life for most of that time. Lymphoma is what caused us to let him
go as well but by that point he had a laundry list of medical issues
including cardiomyopathy and a recurrence of adrenal disease, both of
which were well controlled with medication.
The experience with Podo's insulinoma surgery as well as hearing and
reading the experiences of others has made me decide that for my
senior ferrets (age seven or older) it pretty well has to be life or
death before I would decide for surgery. If there is a medical
(non-surgical) treatment that can be tried that would be my first
choice. Of course, given the choice I was given with Podo and Kodo
(surgery or likely death) I would choose surgery again.
One member of the local ferret club had the same vet I used at the
time (now retired) do a life or death surgery on a 10 year old ferret.
I don't remember the details but I do know the ferret came through
surgery and lived for several more months. I don't remember enough of
the details to know if that surgery was worth doing or not.
All the best,
Caity and the terrific trio
Ella, Zephyr and Chin Soon
(ages six and a half to almost eight)
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