Okay, I know that Ashling wasn't due for a vet appointment for about 2
weeks but today she went in earlier.
 
For those who didn't know or who have forgotten, Ashling is going on
7 years old and had been fine in her 6 month check-up but not long
afterward (a few months) I found her late one night passed out and cold
with Hilbert trying valiantly to keep her warm.  I got sugars into her
and since her internal body temp was 93.4 I warmed her in a 105' tub
(Having a Raytek Minitemp is VERY useful; we call it the "soup gun"
because most commonly we use them to check temperature on the ferrets'
soups.) and yelled for Steve while I was holding her in the tub.  Her
heart was slow and then after a while she stopped breathing and we could
not hear it any longer so I had to give gentle mouth to nose and mouth
cheek puffs which got her going.  We never had to use the swinging
motion cardiac restart technique, but she was touch and go all the
way to emergency care, with more cheek puffs given.  Against the odds
she made it.
 
Usually in such a situation you think of three main possibilities:
insulinoma to which the ferret has adjusted till it just got too low
which is pretty rare (but her earlier blood tests being fine rules that
out, insulinoma which had been growing for a while but earlier had not
produced excess insulin which is rare but is what we are hoping for, and
lymphoma in the pancreas which is something we once before encountered
under similar conditions (in Fritter) in 21 years with ferrets.  (I am
saying when things are rare because I don't want folks to think that they
are likely to encounter something similar though it does pay to know what
they can do if needed.)
 
The reason Ashling was due for an appointment in about 2 weeks is because
her blood values were off after her adventure night, so she was not a
surgical candidate.  Hopes have been that they will improve.  Just
recently, though, she is starting intestinal bloat, smelling differently,
acting uncomfortable in certain positions, losing more muscle mass, and
she has two sets of nodes which have increased in size.  All of these
indicate the possibility of lymphoma.  Lingity isn't a surgical candidate
right now so two things were done today: nodal aspirates were taken, and
all her blood tests are being re-done so that we can see if she is making
progress and if she might be a surgical candidate (even for a node pull
and biopsy) soon.
 
So, at this point she might have lymphoma; we are hoping not, but the
possibility is there.  Meanwhile, her Prednisolone is useful for either
of the possibilities.
 
Folks asked about her so I am posting this update.
[Posted in FML issue 4312]