[Sukie note: the FHL can be found at
http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/ferrethealth .  Because of slow
connections tonight I will be gleaning the vet posts to carry over
from the digest, rather than giving specific URLs]
 
 ---
 
Author wrote:
>My 4 year old female ferret has been diagnosed by our vet with probable
>liver cancer.  January 2003 I noticed that she had swollen nodes in her
>neck, so I took her to the vet.  She had no other symptoms, weight &
>appetite were good, so he wanted to watch her.  There were no other
>nodes found to be swollen.
>
>Decemeber 5, just last month, she had an upper respiratory infection,
>so I took her to a vet that is much closer. I showed him the nodes,
>which were no larger than 11 months before, and he agreed that they
>should just be watched, and that he did not suspect lymphoma because
>she had had them so long. She responded well to the Amoxi drops that
>were prescribed.
>
>Last week I noticed that the nodes on her neck had increased in size,
>so we went back to the last vet for evaluation.  Her weight had dropped
>from 807 grams December 5 to 749 grams.  This was January 21.  No
>additional nodes were found to be swollen, but he did find a
>questionable lump/mass upon exam in her abdomen, so he did an
>ultrasound.  It showed the liver quite enlarged with a mass extending
>from it.  He said that it was not well defined, so that it would be
>difficult to actually remove a lobe where the large mass is.  Also,
>there were 2-4 other smaller masses beside the liver which may or may
>not be lymph nodes that are cancerous.  The spleen looked normal.  He
>says that she does not have many options, although we could do blood
>work to see if she is a candidate for surgery.  Should we opt to not
>do surgery, we can just keep her comfortable.  He gave her a shot of
>dexamethasone and Amoxi drops.  Her temp was 103.2, I think, but he
>wanted to give the antibiotic in the event there is an infection.  At
>this point, because of his saying how difficult the surgery would be and
>that it wouldn't buy her much time because she's an older ferret anyway,
>I have decided to just keep her comfortable.  I would like an opinion
>from a veterinarian on the list should any read my post.
 
While there is a likelihood of lymphoma here, is there a reason why
the nodes in the neck weren't at least aspirated?  I guess I'm a
traditionalist - I don't generally start talking about how much time
a ferret has left without knowing exactly what type of neoplasm I am
dealing with (or if I am really dealing with one.  Personally, I don't
like to write off a ferret without having a definitive diagnosis.
 
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, DVM
[Posted in FML issue 4401]