From:
"kamccabe@ymail.com"
Date: 2010-09-03 04:53:23 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Re: Ferret with tumors
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
--- In ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com, "TrixiesMama" <trixies_mama@...> wrote:
>
> My elderly ferret has large masses in her belly and between her legs. She can barely walk. We plan on having her put down tomorrow, but I'm just curious if this is normal, or if it's common for ferrets to get tumors/growths in their abdomen.
>
I don't know the official statistics, or if any actually exist, but based on my experiences, as well as the experiences of many others that I have knowledge of, cancer certainly seems to be the number one cause of death in ferrets.
I've had a total of 28 ferrets in the past 9-10 years. 19 have passed, all of cancer. 6 in just the past year. Of the 9 I currently have one now has lymphoma and another is suspected. I lost one just last week, at only three years of age, to lymphoma.
So, yes, cancer is extremely common in ferrets.
Karen McCabe
[One specific form of lymphoma, the
immunoblastic-polymorphous
variant, creates population clumps
with lymphoma and it seems to happen
about 3 years after exposure to a silent virus.
We've had such clumps twice in our ~30 years
with ferrets in the family.
See page 2 of
http://www.afip.org/consultation/vetpath/ferrets/PDF/Lymphoma_Ferrets.pdf
starting with the paragraph that begins
"The third and last common variant"
I am so sorry that you seem to be encountering
this one, Karen.
The original post caused me to wonder about the
nature of the tumors. There are many types,
after all, and not all are malignant.
-- Moderator]
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