Since this digest (likely 707 isn't our, yet, the URL is
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Ferret-Health-list/message/12767
>I am concerned about my 6 and a half year old ferret, Phoebe. She had
>blood in her urine yesterday morning, and I took her to the vet. He said
>that she had adrenal problems, but she also had an enlarged kidney, which
>was probably the cause of the bleeding. He thinks the kidney might
>possibly have an infection, but from the size he thinks it's more likely
>lymphoma. The vet didn't want to try a biopsy right away because it's
>too invasive, so I am giving her antibiotics for 10 days. If her kidney
>doesn't show any improvement, the vet will then give her prednisone to
>help shrink her kidney to make her more comfortable.
A non-invasive technique that may help to define what is going on with the
kidney would be an ultrasound test. In cases of infection in which the
kidney is enlarged, you can often see distention of the renal pelvis and
collecting ducts - a condition known as hydronephrosis. A kidney with
lymphoma would be solidly cellular on the ultrasound, with no areas of
lucency.
I don't really believe in a ten-day course of antibiotics as the best way
to go here. Even if it is due to infection, the antibiotics will not
shrink the kidney, because the damage and stretching is already done.
And employing prednisone with the possibility of an infection is not a
good idea.
If ultrasound is not a possibility, then I would likely go right to an
abdominal exploration. At this point, you can visually inspect the
kidney, and if it is not viable, remove it. At the same time you can
also surgically treat the adrenal disease. What if the kidney problem is
not kidney, after all, but a large adrenal tumor (the adrenal gland sits
right next to the kidney)...
There are some diseases that you can play around with for a while trying
various dosages and combinations of drugs, but an enlarged kidney is not
one of them.
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, DVM
[Posted in FML issue 3765]
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