Hi all,
I'm an occasional reader of the ferret mailing list and have enjoyed =
reading the posts from other ferret lovers.
 
I have three ferrets and they are my loves.  I'm writing concerning my
ferret, Lilli.  Lilli was a rescue, so I don't know how old she is; the vet
guesses around 6.  I've had her a little over three years.  She has always
been very small and frail, but large on attitude.  About a year ago she was
losing some fur around her tail and an ultrasound showed a left adrenal
tumor.  My vet thought that she was much too weak for surgery so we tried
Lupron.  It worked remarkably well and a second ultrasound a few months
later showed the adrenals to be back to normal size, About three weeks ago
during giving her a bath, I noticed a disturbingly large lump under her
neck.  She has been to the vet and it was determined that it was her lymph
node that was enlarged.  The vet aspirated the lymph node and sent the
sample to a pathologist were they deemed it wasn't cancerous.  Lilli was
put on antibiotics for two weeks because we were hoping the node was
enlarged due to infection.  It was not reduced during this time.  After
going off the antibiotics, Lilli began to have trouble eating and was
having diarrhea.  I took her immediately back to the vet and they now think
that she has lymphoma and the pathology results were incorrect.  She is now
on prednisone and the antiobiotic and is doing well (3 days later) but the
lymph node is still very enlarged.
 
If her symptoms sounds familiar or if there is someone who has been through
this that can give me some advice, please write back to my email address.
I'm looking for any help that I can get so that I might help her.
 
Best wishes to you all and your furry little friends.
Thanks,
Brandi
[Posted in FML issue 3244]