We have about a 20% rate of ferrets getting any form of pancreatic
growth in something like 27 years with ferrets this summer (I could
go back through permits to check but I think that is right, though it
might be 26 years). Most have had insulinoma which is a specific form
of beta call tumor but we have also encountered two ENTIRELY DIFFERENT
THINGS (confirmed by biopsies) in the pancreases of 2 ferrets :
lymphoma and carcinoma. In the pancreas Carcinoma is the worst of those
three by a wide margin, lymphoma is the second worst of those three.
We've had real luck with the surgery, including some who never got it
again, IF THE INSULINOMA WAS FOUND EARLY. The ones who never got it
again were several who wound up having the surgery early in the disease
a vet who was really, really good at finding each nodule.
Right now we have one whose insulinoma was really, really early (found
on a fasting blood glucose immediately prior to surgery for a different
problem). She had one nodule found which was removed and she had a
partial pancreatectomy. So far she has been about 9 months with no
problem at all and no need for meds.
I've heard of people who do it the other way around and have been happy
with it: treat and then do surgeries to buy extra time when the disease
is past the point where their vets feel comfy. We don't have experience
with that approach but I've heard some who like it.
It really depends on several factors:
1. where the insulinoma is located (One of ours had it in a region that
can't be removed which is more rare but can happen and isn't known till
they are in there.)
2. how advanced the insulinoma is
3. how good the surgeon is
4. which procedure is used
This comparison still holds:
http://www.jaaha.org/cgi/content/abstract/34/6/471
Abstract:
BEGIN QUOTE
Insulinoma in the ferret: clinical findings and treatment comparison
of 66 cases
CA Weiss, BH Williams, and MV Scott
The clinical signs and surgical findings were reported for 66 ferrets
with insulinomas confirmed histologically. All of the ferrets were
treated with one of three modalities, and disease-free intervals and
survival times were gathered to determine the most effective treatment.
The three treatment groups included 10 ferrets treated medically, 27
ferrets treated with pancreatic nodulectomy, and 29 ferrets treated
with pancreatic nodulectomy combined with a partial pancreatectomy. The
mean disease-free intervals for each group were 22, 234, and 365 days,
respectively. The mean survival times for each group were 186, 456, and
668 days, respectively. Based upon the data, recommendations were made
for treating insulinoma in the ferret.
END QUOTE
5. how good a surgical candidate the ferret is.
Four is within the PRIME OF LIFE -- kind of like the 40s for a human.
Remember that each year you can get her is like getting a human a
decade, so if you were in that spot and if the others factors listed
above are good then:
6th question to ask yourself: would you want surgery for yourself if
it might get you another 10 years or more?
Sukie (not a vet)
Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html
[Posted in FML 6061]
|
