To Kari in Mass:
 
        Congratulations on your acceptance.  We are all very proud of you.  It
is a tremendous feat to get into vet school and shows long hours of total
dedication to your craft.  I hope that you won't forget us when you start -
although you may not have time for us.
 
To Katie Fritz -
 
        Katie - I agree with you 99.9% that neoplasia cannot be diagnosed in
ferrets with a blood test.  There are some leukemic forms of lymphoma that make
the white blood cell count so high, and when you look under the scope, the celss
are so abnormal, that the diagnosis can be made.  But I always caustion anyone
who sends a blood smear to me, that if the smear looks like lymphosarcoma, have
a biopsy of a lymph node done before starting ANY chemo./  Chemo, although well
tolerated in ferrets, is nothing to be taken lightly, and we can get a LOT more
info from a biopsy than we can from a blood test.
 
        Re: prednisone - actually, it is a form of chemotherapy.  Some forms of
lymphosarcoma are very susceptible to prednisone, and you will see a marked
decrease in the size of the nodes strictly from giving prednisone. It also has
the added benefit of perking up the patient's appetite and decreasing
inflammation, as you said.  But I always recommend pred in the case of lymphoma,
because it has few side effects, and even if only given by itself, often adds a
month or so to a terminal patient.
 
       Bruce Williams, DVM                 Department of Veterinary Pathology
       [log in to unmask]         Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
       (202) 782-2600/2602                 Washington, D.C.  20306-6000
[Posted in FML issue 1134]