I've spent the last two months worrying and working to improve the health
of my male ferret, Zen, who I was told had lymphosarcoma because x-rays
showed a mass in his lung cavity.  Last vet visit, my new vet had an
ultrasound done and found no problems with the lymph nodes, and nothing in
the lung cavity.  He does have an enlarged spleen, but the cytology report
showed that his spleen is producing lots of red blood cells (a condition
that often occurs in ferrets and is not thought to be a cause for concern)
and no cancer.  The radiologist that did the ultrasound does consulting for
the clinic where Zen was originally diagnosed.  He was kind enough to look
over the original x-rays.  He is a board certified radiologist and it
appears that my ferret was misdiagnosed.  The "mass" in the x-ray is a
fat pad, caused by seasonal weight gain.  I'm really relieved, but also
frustrated that my ferret had to go through two months of useless
treatments and tests, when the problem was easily fixed, if I had just
not been misdirected.
 
I brought Zen into the vet because he wasn't eating.  He also seemed to
be nauseated.  I thought he might have a blockage, or a bad tooth, or
something else similar.  I think I've figured out the cause now, though.  I
recently took in two new ferrets who needed a home, and one of them started
having the same problem!  He seemed nauseated, wasn't eating as much.  Then
I thought about the period of time right before Zen started acting sick.  I
had just switched him to twice daily feedings instead of free feeding.  The
ferrets that I adopted had been free fed before, as well.  It's the only
link that I can find between them.
 
I switched them so that I could feed a raw diet.  I'm convinced that a raw
diet would be better for them, but I guess I switched them too fast, and
their systems couldn't keep up.  Now I have them free feeding again.  The
new boy is fine, he was only nauseated for about a day anyway, and Zen is
making a recovery.  I wish that I hadn't been focused on cancer.  I would
have solved this a lot sooner.
 
Does anyone out there who feeds raw food have recommendations about how to
switch them to this new diet more gently?  I'd like to try again, but not
until Zen has made a full recovery and I'll be much more careful about it
if I do try again.  Does anyone feed raw food and leave kibble out?  I've
thought about trying that.  I'm not going to make any moves until I have
more information, and not without the help and advice of my vet.  The cats
switched much more easily, but the ferrets aren't cats, and I guess I have
to do more things differently than just a different food recipe.
 
I never would have figured this out without the thorough study and
examination of the problem by my vet.  If she'd just gone along with the
original diagnosis, I'd probably still be running around in circles.  So,
if you're ever not sure about what a doctor tells you, GET A SECOND
OPINION!
 
SR
 
--
Serena Renee Cissell
faded skies~*~www.visi.com/~starla/
"Any idiot can face a crisis -
it's this day-to-day living that wears you out." -Anton Chekhov
[Posted in FML issue 2912]