Hello-
 
My sweet boy, Rascal, has been battling what we thought was a nasty
urinary tract infection for several months now.  A bit of history (Ill
try to make it short)- Rascal has had a very hard time.  He was purchased
from a pet store 2-3 years ago.  For whatever reasons (I think it has to
do with his condition) his previous owners took him back to the pet store
in June of this year.  They said he had had a urinary tract infection
once, and it had been treated.  However a friend of mine saw Rascal had
been at this store for a couple months, was showing symptoms of urinary
infection (dribbling urine, pus leaking from his penis), and the pet
store was not treating him.  (So theres really no telling how long he
has had these problems)  She convinced the pet store to allow her to take
Rascal and promptly took him to her vet where he was treated for the
infection.  The pus cleared up and dribbling decreased; however within a
few weeks the pus and dribbling came back.  By this time I had adopted
Rascal from her and took him to my vet.  He was prescribed Baytril and
the symptoms cleared up (still dribbling a little though).  A few weeks
later the dribbling came back.  Dr. S checked his urine for crystals and
found none, but there was lots of infection.  We got a refill and the
dribbling decreased again (still dribbling some).  Now the dribbling has
come back again.  Wednesday I took him back to my vet thinking he must
have stones.  There were also traces of blood in his urine.  She ran an
X-ray on him which didnt show signs of any stones, so she scheduled an
ultrasound for him this morning.  On a good note she said all his organs
looked good.  Then Thursday night the pus came back.  This morning he
went in for his ultrasound.  No stones were seen this time either, but
she did see a circular mass by his bladder.  My heart dropped.  She also
said that his kidneys looked like those of an older ferret, not a 2 or 3
year old.  Throughout all this Rascal has remained the sweetest ferret
ever.  His energy level is so high, and he wants nothing more than to
play his little heart out- chasing Princess, batting balls, bouncing
around and chattering constantly.  Aside from the urinary problems, youd
never know that anything was wrong with him.
 
The vet believes it is either lymphoma or aggressive cell carcinoma, but
she wont be sure until the radiologist gets back with her- hopefully no
later than Monday.  In the meantime, hes been prescribed .25 ml twice a
day of Baytril.  I have spent the day looking up info on the internet and
getting more and more depressed.  (So far I havent been able to find any
miracle cures or any sites telling me not to worry- that everything will
be alright- thats what I really want to hear.) The doctor mentioned that
one can be treated with medicines and the other with chemo.
 
I have found a quite a few articles on lymphoma, but I havent been able
to find anything on the aggressive cell carcinoma. Does anyone know the
difference?  Is there anything I can be doing that will help him?  Does
anyone that has experienced this have any suggestions?  Did medicines,
chemo, surgery, anything help???
 
I would greatly appreciate any advice.  I feel so horrible right now, but
I am trying to remind myself that no matter what, Rascal is not is some
pet store not being treated and he is in a place where he is loved,
spoiled and getting lots of kisses and attention.  Please keep my little
guy in your thoughts.
 
Thanks,
Tara
[Posted in FML issue 4702]