Dear Z:
 
First recheck that blood value and make sure that it is correct.  If it
is, that is very bad news.  In young ferrets, the discovery of leukemia
(a form of lymphosarcoma in which the neoplastic cells spill over into
the blood) is very bad.
 
Prednisone is one way to treat the condition.  There are other forms of
chemotherapy, but unfortunately they only work in 10% of cases, and
Gorci's type of lymphoma would not be expected to have a high rate of
response.
 
A bone marrow transplant is not of use in this case, as there is really
no way to wipe out the neoplastic cells already there.  If we were to put
in healthy cells, they would not take hold, as the tumor is already
growing in the bone marrow.
 
I truly wish I could give better news, but at this point, our best hope
is that the first blood test was miscalculated.
 
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams,DVM
[Posted in FML issue 3748]