Thanks to all of the kind people who immediately sent their helpful
experiences to me concerning chemotherapy and other treatments for Kermit's
(supposed) juvenile lymphosarcoma.
 
BUT NOW ... I am rather angry at having been through such a scare.  I was
heartsick!  I love my boy.  The whole story is that I have two vets, one an
hour away who has ferrets herself and who is experienced in ferret surgery,
and one five minutes away who has read everything he can get his hands on
and who loves to learn, but who has not had as much experience.  He is also
twice as expensive.  Anyway, I had driven the hour and taken Kermie to the
first vet thinking he might have a partial obstruction.  She said no, and
pulled out an article she had received at the Small Mammal Vet Conference in
Baltimore a few weeks ago.  It discussed a kind of colitis that is seen in
male ferrets at about 14 mos of age.  Kermie is 17 mos and his symptoms have
been going on and increasing for a while.  She gave me a medication that has
to be handled with gloves, and it took me a while to buy the gloves, so a
week later he had not had the meds long when he suddenly began to sleep all
the time and the weight just dropped off him.  I tried to take him back to
the same vet, but she was away and I didn't want to go into the weekend
without taking him to a vet.
 
At the nearby vet, the tech discovered four swollen lymph nodes and she and
the doctor looked like they had the same unpleasant thought at the same
time.  He dismissed the gastritis idea and said that it was probably
lymphosarcoma.  Blood tests were inconclusive.  Everything was almost
normal, and I guess that the lack of elevated white count is one reason he
continued to think cancer and not infection.  So he scheduled me for an
ultrasound asap.  I had to fast the poor guy for 8 hours the night before,
and after we had waited a couple hours for the test, and Kermit had received
a haircut that makes him look like a greyhound, the ultrasound vet said that
he saw no signs of lymphosarcoma (and, while he was looking, no adrenal
problems) but that Kermie had a very inflamed intestinal tract.
 
I felt relieved and sick at the same time.  Kind of like when I worry about
my daughter and she turns out to be alright but I am upset for having gone
through the worry at all.  We saw our vet the next a.m.  and I truly think
they were wondering how I was going to act.  When I said to the office
manager that it looked like Kermit might have what I had brought him in for
originally, I got no reaction, but she went into the back in a minute and it
sure sounded to me like they were making, "uh - oh, here's the trouble we
expected" noises to each other.  The vet was nice ... everyone there is
always nice ... but the atmosphere was strained.  When the vet was finished
explaining the findings to me, I asked if this meant Kermit had been through
all these tests for nothing.  He said no, of course.  For one thing, we now
knew he had no partial obstructions, and for another there was a small
amount of fluid in the intestines which should not have been there (couldn't
it have been water?) and which is usually consistent with a tumor.  In other
words, the vet could still turn out to be right later on and I should keep
an eye on Kermit.
 
Now I am feeding Kermie Deliver 2.0 and Timmy's Recipe, and hoping he will
fatten up again soon.  At least he responded immediately to prednisone and
chloramphenicol and plays a little before he is exhausted.  I hope he won't
wait til his next coat change to grow his fur back!  It is cute to see the
others choose to sleep on his belly more often, but I can tell his feels
chilly sometimes.
 
I know you'll have opinions about the vet ... but does anyone have an
opinion (or knowledge) about the fluid in his intestines?  Does it mean a
tumor could be starting?  Could it have been the water he drank?  I would
like to know how much I should still be worrying about Kermit and perhaps
what signs I should be looking for.
[Posted in FML issue 2079]