From:
md l
Date: 2010-05-25 22:02:40 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] New member - sick ferret!
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
Hello all.. So glad to have found you.=A0 Someone from the holistic ferrets=
forum referred me over here to get feedback for my sick ferret.=A0
But first an introduction.. My name is Misty, 34 years old.. I am married a=
nd have four human children and four fuzzy children.=A0 We also have 2 cats=
, one weiner dog, 2 hamsters, 1 turtle, and 1 leopard gecko.=A0 The fuzzies=
rule the house, of course!=A0 They have their own room and everything.
Back to why I'm here... I have a very sick ferret that I am hoping to get f=
eedback on.=A0 I'm going to cut and paste what I posted on HF forums so I a=
pologize if this is a repeat for anyone here...
................................................
About 2 weeks ago, we noticed a small growth on the bottom of our ferret's =
front foot. It was sort of between the toes, I guess. I called our regular =
vet and was told he would be out of town for another 7 days.. I decided to =
wait those 7 days.. However, within two days, the growth had progressed to =
marble-sized and a lymph node under that same arm was starting to swell. At=
this point I start pondering finding a different vet instead of waiting fo=
r the appt. with our regular vet.
By day 3 he has a fever and is starting to get slightly lethargic. His lymp=
h nodes are growing fast. The node on his neck is now starting to swell.
On day 4 I have him in to see a new exotics vet. His lymph nodes are signif=
icantly swollen, he is lethargic, with fever, barely eating. The vet takes =
an aspiration biopsy of the lymph node. She says his spleen feels slightly =
enlarged. She sends us home with prednisone and an antibiotic and tells us =
she'll call when she gets the results of the biopsy.
Our little guy responds beautifully to the meds (not sure which one though!=
). Everything starts to shrink (even the growth on his foot) and he is up r=
unning around and stealing and stashing. The vet calls and says the biopsy =
was negative for cancer cells. She says there was a lot of bacteria, but no=
cancer. So it was safe to assume that this was an infection and not cancer=
.
With this new information, I drop the prednisone down to every other day (t=
he bottle said to do this after six days anyway). That same day that he mis=
sed the prednisone dose, everything came back with a vengeance. His nodes s=
tarted to swell up quickly and he became lethargic again. The next day I ha=
ve him back at the vet clinic and the Dr. is completely puzzled!! She is no=
t sure what to think. We discussed doing a more in-depth biopsy, which woul=
d require knocking him out (with the thought that maybe the 1st biopsy miss=
ed the cancer). We ultimately decided to add in another, stronger antibioti=
c (augmentin) and continue with the other antibiotic and prednisone. She al=
so suggested that I upped the prednisone dose to 1/2 ml.
He is not getting better! He has been on the new antibiotic for 3 days now =
and his lymph nodes are just getting bigger and bigger. They are larger tha=
n golf balls now and it just makes me sick! He can't walk or anything. His =
entire arm and paw is starting to swell.=A0 I am desperate to help him. Is =
it possible that the prednisone is causing the lymph nodes to swell even mo=
re?
Please help! Oh, and he is about 3-4 years of age.
Thanks so much!
Misty in OK
=20=20=20=20=20
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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