Stacey,

Was the lymphoma diagnosed through testing, or did the vet just say
it was lymphoma? I would have a sample taken (aspirate, or biopsy) to
confirm.

That being said - if he is not his old happy self and the tumor
is growing, you likely have a ferret that has lymphoma spreading
throughout the body, affecting other systems, making him feel tired.
Have you done any x-rays to see if the lymphoma is in the lungs? Or
ultrasound?

I don't have a ton of money and the first thing I do is have the vet
do an x-ray. The x-ray will show lymphoma in the lungs plain as day.
Once it's at this point if the ferret is not having "a fun time" we
slowly ponder euthanasia, but usually hang on until they stop eating or
drinking for longer than 48 hours, and have exhausted all prednisilone
options.

*skip over if you don't want to read my experience with chemo*
I used to do Tufts protocol for lymphoma in ferrets when I was in
Michigan where it was affordable. It requires a vet that will contact
the people who do the protocol (email me if you need it), as well as
access to a chemotherapy drug that is class X a few weeks into the
protocol. It is a sub-q treatment which means they won't use ferret's
veins to deliver the drugs, and the drugs are also flushed out by
giving sub-q fluids after treatment. Just don't let the fuzzy pee on
you the day of treatment and you are fine. As for finding a vet that
does class X, any vet who does cat/dog chemotherapy should do it, and
will not charge you for the whole bottle as they are using the bottle
for other patients (they should just charge you for your part of it).
Or you can contact universities. Michigan State's oncology center did
my chemo for me when it was needed. It was only one visit and I think
I paid under $150.

Each week was varied. I went to the hospital and got the needed drugs,
then brought them to the vet for the session. Working out lower fees
with the vet helps, too, as you may need to go once a week for many
months. The drugs were sometimes $14 a week, one or two times they
were around $80.

*end skip*

Anyway - does chemo help? I believe it all depends on how your ferret
feels and what stage they are in. If they have advanced lymphoma and
it's in the abdomen, it may not help much, similar to the lungs. If
it's early on and you only have some armpit tumors, you may be in
luck. Then again, who is to say that without palliative treatment
(prednisilone) a ferret may not last as long as one with chemo. I have
one who has been treated with Pred for about 8 months now. He's still
kicking despite some major scares, and we forget he's "on death's door"
quite a lot.

Your ferret at 3 is at the brink where it is hard to say if he has
aggressive lymphoma or not. The younger a ferret is when they have it,
the more quickly the disease moves. It sounds as if your fuzzy might do
well with some Pred and hoping for the best. When Grey crashed I kept
him alive with pred until he got to the vet, and he's done well since.
His tumors are still there inside him (he has abdominal ones) but he is
fine otherwise. He has his "tired" days and his good days, but I know
for sure without the Prednisilone he'd be gone by now. It's not like it
cures anything, but it buys time. Sometimes, it seems, quite a bit of
time if you're lucky.

Good luck,
Laryssa

[Posted in FML 6295]