> From: Laura P McDonald <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Allie diagnosed with lymphosarcoma =<
> Date: Mon, 29 Aug 1994 17:57:01 -0400 (EDT)
> Submitted-Date: Mon Aug 29 20:28:29 EDT 1994
>
> Hello All! I haven't posted in months due to an overly busy work schedule,
but
> now I could use some advice on one of my little friends' problem.
>
> Allie, our silver mutt, who supposedly turns two years old next week, started
> losing patches of hair from her tail last week. We're in a nominal FFZ, so we
> took her to an "exotic animal" specialist in Indy. Dr. Breitwiser was
> concerned, especially when it took her 15 minutes to get a couple of drops of
> blood from Al--she said that this meant that her blood vessels were
collapsing,
> which I still don't totally understand. Anyway, the blood work came back
today
> and they show Allie's lymphocyte count at "47". The Dr. said that anything
> over 35 can indicate lympho. She ruled out Aleutian disease (a concern b/c of
> our mink) because Allie's stools are normal.
>
> Anyway, she said that we would need a biopsy to confirm the lympho. If Al has
> it, she could be treated with chemotherapy (>$600 w/lots of discomfort for
> Allie and no great prognosis), if not, we're back where we started. We don't
> want to go the chemo route, so at this point we're just planning to give her
> Prednisone to slow down the progress of the disease.
>
> Could we be making a big mistake? Is it likely that she could have another
> disease that would be discovered during the biopsy? Allie is acting totally
> normal, except for the hair loss and some lethargy (and it is August). She's
> always had a very wobbly gait, so it's hard to tell whether she's losing
> control of her backside. The vet also told us that Al looks quite a bit older
> than two to her (we adopted her in a very scroungy state when she was
> supposedly three months old).
>
Laura,
We've gone through the lympho/chemo route, so I wanted to add my 2 cents
-- first off, ferrets tolerate chemotherapy VERY well -- I would not say
that it causes ferrets a great deal of pain, particularly as some of the
drugs are administered orally. Of those administered by injection, most
are injected subcutaneously -- the only one that must be administered
intravenously is Vincristine. As far as the prognosis goes, we were
originally told that Bandit's prognosis was 3-8 months with or without
chemo. Happily, he beat those odds -- he went into remission after about
6 months or so on chemo, continued the chemo for a full year, and has been
drug free and continued in remission for more than a year.
More specifically, he was diagnosed with lympho in February 1992, had a
splenectomy in March '92, started chemo in March '92, finished chemo in
June '93, was weaned from Prednisone in July '93, and has been off drugs
and in remission ever since. He is now over 6 years old and doing well,
though now slowing down from age.
Have your vet call Dr. Ann Jeglum -- she is the veterinary oncologist who
treated the B-man, and she is EXCELLENT. She can be reached at
610-696-1588 -- that's West Chester, PA.
The chemo protocol she uses can be found in Pam Greene's lympho faq, but
if you can't find it, I'll be happy to send it to you (I don't have it on
hand at the moment). Basically it consists of a 5-week rotation of
L-aspariginase (sp?) (given sub-q), Vincristine (intravenous), Cytoxan
(orally), Vincristine (intravenous) and Methotrexate (orally), while on a
daily dose of Prednisone. Prednisone alone does not fight chemo -- my
understanding of its function in treating ferrets with lympho is that it
makes them feel better and improves appetite. It does not work
indefinitely, however, and eventually will cause loss of hair and muscle
mass. (Correct me if I'm wrong on this, Dr. Williams or Dr. Brown!!)
A biopsy is essential, however, if you go the chemo route -- as that's the
only way to confirm a lympho diagnosis. It's unfortunately not possible
to diagnosis lympho strictly on the basis of bloodwork. :-(
Allie's current state of health, vigor, age and attitude also are key
factors in deciding if you want to pursue this course of treatment.
Bandit was 3-1/2 when he was diagnosed, and I'm convinced his age and
attitude (he's also been a stubborn little guy) had a lot to do with his
recovery. His only symptoms prior to diagnosis, by the way, was extreme
lethargy -- he had lost a lot of weight, but we had not noticed because
his spleen had enlarged so much we couldn't tell he'd lost weight.
I'm happy to talk to you further about this if you like. I know it's
really tough, because lympho has a rep as a disease that can't be beaten.
---------------------
Katie Fritz
CompuServe Small Mammals Section (S11) Co-Leader, Pets/Animals Forum
Internet: [log in to unmask] CompuServe: 71257,3153
[Posted in FML issue 0936]
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