Hi All:

I hope someone can let me know if this is something I can try.

My Max, age ~7 yrs, has bone cancer in his right zygomatic arch - just
below his right eye. This was dx'd a couple mos ago, after having xrays
to find out why he had an abscess on his right uppper gumline. Max also
has insulinoma (less than a yr), & has been on pred. The insulinoma is
being kept really well under control. He's also on clavamox, which we
started when we discovered the abscess/bone cancer, to clear up the
abscess & to hopefully prevent any further secondary infections.

His pred dosage has been .35cc 2X/day. We cut it down to .30cc today,
to hopefully reduce his recently-massive pred belly (he sometimes drags
his belly on the floor after using the litterbox - I don't want him to
get urine burns). His clavamox dosage has been .25cc 2X/day, pulsed 4
days on, 3 days off. It was recently raised to .30cc 2X/day when his
breath began to get bad again, & just today, we're not going to be
giving it to him every day for at least a wk, because the gumline
abscess has returned w/ a vengance. It looks really horrible (to me,
anyway).

Despite all this, Max has been doing The Big Four -
eating/drinking/peeing/pooping - w/ no problems. He eats his soup like
a champ, & he willingly takes his meds mixed in a spoonful of soup w/ a
dash of FerreTone w/ no fuss. He also still is interested in wandering
around & exploring the house (w/ supervision), although he gets tired
quickly, which is probably due to both the insulinoma & the effort of
dragging that huge gut around w/ him. His nose wants to continue
sniffing around, but the bod is just too tired after about 5 - 10 min.
W/ his willingness to eat & to explore, we think his quality of life is
alright for now. However, his cancer is advancing quickly; it could be
wks, it could be a couple mos. No way of knowing. Happy Holidays.
:-(...

Anyway, on to my question. Max has been flicking his tongue in & out, &
sort of smacking his lips while doing it, as if he has something stuck
in his mouth he's trying to work loose. It's obviously due to that
abscess. Cos of the meds he's currently on, my vet is reluctant to put
him on any sort of additional oral pain med. What I want to know is,
is it possible to use something like Anbesol or Ora-Gel, topical
anesthetics people use on sore teeth & gums, on a ferret? He's gotten a
lot more distracted by this during the last couple days. it absolutely
*kills* me to think he could be in pain. I imagine the bone cancer is
causing him some discomfort (he does have a small amount of swelling
under that right eye), & I realize there may be nothing much we can
do about that. But if releving any possible pain from this abscess is
possible w/ some sort of topical ointment, I'd want to give it a try.
But only if it would be safe to use, of course.

Has anyone here ever used that on a ferret? Is it dangerous? I'd be
willing to deal w/ smearing a little on there several times a day, if
it could get rid of at least *one* of his problems. If this abscess
can't be resolved for good, I want to make sure he'll still be able
to eat for as long as possible, so his problems aren't increased by
not wanting to eat, cos of any pain. I'd hate to have that one thing
destroy the enjoyment he gets from eating his soup.

I know Max's situation is hopeless; but as long as he has *something*
he enjoys doing, I don't want that taken away from him too soon,
because of discomfort I might possibly be able to do something about.

If anyone has any experience or knowledge about this, please let me
know, either on or off list.

Thanks in advance ~

Lin, Max, Puck, Ivan, & Mason
~ Missing my angel Ariel - 20 April 2000 - 20 January 2007. Wait for
me, my Baby Girl. I miss you so much. ~
~ Missing my Oberon - 4 July 2001 - 5 May 2008 - I love you, my Big
Silly Boy. Wait for me. ~
~ Missing my Madison - ? - 9 September 2008 - Our time was too short,
but my love is forever. ~
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
email me at: kay tee en eye el at double-u owe aich dot ar ar dot
see owe em
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

[Posted in FML 6173]