From:
"stepheniebaas"
Date: 2011-02-20 11:10:24 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Tumor in chest
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
Hi All
I'm new here, My name is Stephenie and I live in Holland, for the last 11 years I have been a member of the board for a Dutch ferret organization, for the last seven years I was head of the board,
[Section not related to the health problems and which could violate 2 FHL rules removed.]
I am now left with no one to discuses my ferret problems with so I am hoping someone here can help.
My problem is Breez, Breez came to me nearly a year ago, one of two boys that were surrendered because they were not getting the medical attention they needed.
They had been together for several years but obviously did not like each other, they only tolerated each other, so we separated them immediately.
Both boys had a helicobacter problem, one little boy had two fur balls removed from his stomach, but help came to late for him, despite all our help, his stomach was so full of ulcers that were had to let him go. Breez also had a chronic ear infection that could not be adequately treated at that moment because the medication needed would have had a devastating effect on his tummy problems.
He was treated with stomach liner and antibiotics and after about a month he turned into a bubbly bouncy ferret, and I mean bouncy, Breez did not walk he bounced through life, until August, It was humid and warm and I could smell the yeast infection in his ears although he had no mites, at this point we could successfully treat his ear problems and once again he bounced through life.
Until November, he was not feeling very well, so I took him to the vet, blood tests showed an infection some where, he was extremely sensitive around his kidneys and his blood sugar was low, he was admitted and given fluids to flush the kidneys plus antibiotics, his blood sugar returned to normal and he came home.
It took him a bit longer to return to bouncy Breez, but in December he was doing fine.
When I went to the vet for my other ferrets, I took him along to have a blood test done to check on his kidneys, to our surprise his blood sugar was very low, the rest was fine
He was put on medication for insulinoma, after a month a new test was done, his sugar was a bit higher but still not good, Breez was having some problems with the medication due to his history of ulcers, but despite this and through it all, breez bounced through life, eat like a piggy and left me feeling that this was not insulinoma. So after a discussion with his vet, The best in Holland, we took him of medication to see what would happen, he did fine for 5 days then crashed.
There was blood in his urine and new blood tests showed infection and very low blood sugar,
Once again insulinoma was suspected and I was asked if I wanted him operated on.
I am inclined to follow my intuition and my gut feeling was that something else was causing his problems, so I asked for more tests, an x-ray was done and this showed a large mass next to his heart, It was not possible to see if his heart was enlarged so we did a scan/echo, his heart is normal but is being pushed into his chest by the mass, the mass looked like a liver would on a scan so now he is back on stomach liners, prednisolon, antibiotics and a heart medication for the rest of his life and here is were my question comes.
Has anyone had any experience with tumors in the chest, we don't know how long its been there, has it been there a long time and growing slowly?, has it developed quickly in the last few months? I need to be able to monitor him, know when its time to stop, it helps if you have some indication of the growth time, so any information would be highly appreciated
Thanks Stephenie
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