From:
"Jeff"
Date: 2012-03-14 04:55:11 UTC
Subject: Re: [ferrethealth] Mass in chest area
To: <ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com>
Andrea, I think thereâs a good chance that youâre not looking at a âpred bellyâ, but instead, a distended belly caused by tumors. Thatâs a low dose of pred if heâs getting it once a day, and that alone is very unlikely to cause a big âpred bellyâ in 3 months. Often times there is not just one mass, but several, affecting multiple organs. I wonder why you would not do an ultrasound of the whole abdominal area, rather than focusing on trying to get an aspirate from the one tumor. An ultrasound can find all or most tumors and measure their size. This will probably give you much more info than an aspirate of one tumor.
If heâs had diarrhea on and off again for the last year, the pred may be the only thing helping him to keep his probable IBD in check. Iâve found, unfortunately, that sometimes if you take a ferret with IBD off pred, it can flare up out of control, and rapidly lead to his demise. I personally will never again try to take a ferret with a history of IBD off of pred once he has started on it, which is usually a last resort. On a positive note, I did have an older girl do just fine with IBD and insulinoma on a fairly low dose of pred for over 2 years.
Shane may be very sick at this point, with the discomfort that you describe coming from more than just one tumor. I personally would get an ultrasound right away, and be prepared for results that might suggest that palliative care would be whatâs best for him at this point.
Jeff
In Loving Memory of Neo, Trinity, Morphy, Dozer, Possum, Pip, Pop, Sabrina, Minnie Mouse, Hunny, Misty, Frodo, Baggins, and Mr. Parker
Caring for Luna, Baby Girl, Boomer, and Zoomer
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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