[log in to unmask] wrote:
>Last vet vist our vet vet felt a mass and x-rayed.  It showed a mass on
>his x-ray.  So we elected to do exploratory surgery.  I recieved a call
>at work the day of surgery and the vet said that he has a cystic mass on
>his liver.  They said it was to risky to remove and also said he had
>hairballs.  Vet said they could remove the hair ball but the liver was
>too risky and asked if wanted to put him down because the liver
>eventually will fail.
 
Thank God you didn't put him down!  I can't believe what this vet is
telling you!  My 6.5 year old Molly just had a walnut-sized liver cyst
and one lobe of her liver removed.  I don't understand why your vet said
it was too risky to remove.  My vet felt it was probably causing her
discomfort pressing on other internal organs and that it was best to
remove it.  My vet actually was afraid the mass was cancerous and
biopsied it, and still removed it.  She still has smaller clusters that
my vet felt it was best just to leave, since she had already taken one
lobe.
 
The mass actually caused her belly to distend and she had a great deal of
difficulty going up and down the stairs.  Molly is now back to her old
self and has resumed playing and wandering about the house.  It does my
heart good to see her feeling so good again.  Her surgery was in June
and she is doing really great!  Even though she still has liver cysts, I
really don't think she'll be going any time soon.
 
.
Dr. Bruce Williams, a very highly regarded ferret pathologist (in case
newbies don't know the name), advised me via the FHL that benign liver
cysts can actually be low-level malignancies and that it is important to
remove as much as you safely can.You may want to discuss this with your
vet or post to the Ferret Health List
http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/ferrethealth
for a vet response.
 
In the meantime, don't count your fuzzy out too early.  Eventual liver
failure could mean more than a year with Dimmy.
 
Good luck!
Dodie in NJ
 
BTW, Molly has finally resumed eating her N-Bones, chewing on the phone
cord and picking her toys up with her teeth.  I am also getting plenty of
kisses once again.  In April, animal communicator, Lorelei Hunt, told me
that Molly had excruciating pain on the right side of her face and it
was painful to even open her mouth.  Removal of a few lower incisors did
nothing to help it.  As I layed in bed one night, I suddenly remembered
accidentally bumping the right side of Molly's face with the edge of the
door.  I felt horrible!
 
The vet said nothing could really be done to treat the problem, whatever
it was.  So, I am so glad she has finally healed on her own and is back
to her old self, in more ways than one...
[Posted in FML issue 3876]