From:
"marci1111"
Date: 2010-08-16 13:43:13 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Re: Looking for some advice/help
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
More advice/help on Loki please!
Loki was doing much better until last night when I noticed he didn't want to eat his duck soup. This morning the same....I feel I'm at a breaking point. As much as I don't want to let him go....I kills me to see him just laying flat out most of the time and he has not played in over a week and a half. He is walking around though but it is short walks and then he lays down. His breathing is still labored and/or rapid. I have noticed that when he urinates/defecates he has to contract his abdomen greatly and he has to push to get it out cause I hear him like grunt very softly. I'm so drained from this whole ordeal. I've went though his paperwork since I've had him and discovered he is 5 yrs 7months old (not 7) and has accumulated over the years way more medical bills then Nike my (6.5 yr old ferret). In his paperwork he has had numerous problems with ulcers, helobacter, and 1x ECE, and again has Adrenal and has the deslorlin implant which I think has taken care of the ad
renal....I've been doing so much research on the web and don't feel that he shows the signs of lymphoma. He does not have the swollen lymph glands and many of the other signs they say comes along with lymph. The signs he has shown last week were: uncontrollable bouts of coughing/gagging, major stomach contractions throughout the day, laying flat on his belly alot, low energy, pawing at the carpet angrily.
After seeing the vet 2x last week and was put on: Amoxicillin, butanoel (for pain), Pred, Lasix, Encarad, Pepcid his coughing/gagging has not returned (at least that I have heard) and I have only seen 1 stomach contraction. Again the vet ran his glocouse which was 67 (she said it was low but is it if he hadn't eaten in 4/5 hours?), his pcv count which was normal (she said gums looked bluish/ gray), low temp; 97.6, x-rays of the lungs; showed fluid in lung cavity, and felt spleen which is extemely enlarged. I have read that ferrets with lymphoma respond to the steroid (pred) very well and that temporary improvement should have been seen. I only saw improvement on the coughing/gagging and the abdominal contractions, which is why I feel maybe its not lymphoma. His labored breathing/rapid short breaths scare me. I'm wondering if maybe he has a tumor or maybe the right adrenal gland has a tumor that is putting pressure on the vena cava (heart) which is causing him breathing p
roblems and fluid build up...is this possible? Or maybe its just a big tumor in his stomach that enlarged and putting pressure on all other organs causing him to have breathing problems, problems eating, hard to urinate/defaecate....What do you think....does this sound like lymphoma to anyone and if it is shouldn't he lymphoma have somewhat gone in remission due to the pred at least for a little bit?
I'm just worried that its something that is curable and he is suffering for no reason. I made a call to the vet this morning but she is not in til 2pm today. I think I'm going to ask her if she will open him up and see what is causing all of his problems. If its fixable (tumors, etc) let her remove them, however if she sees all the organs are diseased and cancerous (which would be lymphoma) then just don't wake him up. I know the last 2x we were there she said that there is a good chance I would lose him due to his condition if we did a needle aspirate on the liver to verify lymphoma, so I didn't do it. I'm glad I didn't b/c what i'm reading is that most do it of the spleen b/c better chance if there is it will be caught but not always with the liver? Is this true and how accurate are the tests?
Clearly he has something major going on with him and even though he is mobile and using the bathroom, I don't think he is happy, especially now that he has regressed in eating. At 5.5 yrs old could he not make it though surgery to determine what is going on?
[The Vena Cava is the largest vein in the body,
a structure which returns blood to the heart but
I have never heard of any adrenal tumor causing
the scenario you fear. What usually happens is
if an adrenal tumor gets large enough then the
Cava can finally tear and death occurs suddenly
from a bleed-out. That is the likely eventual
fate of one of our girls, Mornie, who is still dashing
around full speed despite being a 7 year old with
arthritis, because she has a huge carcinoma there
and really is not a surgical candidate but Suprelorin
implant is giving her a large amount of quality time.
So, if there are heart problems they will be in the
heart itself.
Has a chest and abdomen ultrasound been done yet?
Ultrasound guided needle aspirate from the spleen?
NEITHER heart problems NOR lymphoma will be
curable, but part of the problem is that if this is
heart disease rather than lymphoma (and not all
lymphoma causes enlarged lymph nodes) then you
need to realize that Prednisolone and Prednisone
are hard on the heart.
If it is heart disease only two of the categories of
meds that are possible to use are being used. A
chest ultrasound will tell which others can be tried.
See past posts such as
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL2433
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL2306
If an ultrasound can not be done and the added
possible meds can not be tried then it might be
time for a mercy shot unless your vet can direct
you to someone more experienced in ferrets who
has access to the needed equipment, or unless you
can find the sort of expert you need in resources
like
http://ferrethealth.org/vets/
If you say in general terms where you are located
portion of state or provence in which country then
someone here may know who in your area might
be useful as a veterinarian.
-- Moderator (SDC)]
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