Hello,
 
I'm horribly worried about my Mortimer.  Sebastian was due for shots this
week, and since Morty has been looking thin for the past couple of months
and because he had a spell where he was coughing a lot a few weeks ago, I
though it was a good idea to have the vet examine him.  I wasn't expecting
anything more serious than a flu bug.  Well, when the vet got her hands on
him, she was extremely concerned.  She said he was not just thin, but
shrunken inside his skin.  He was also very pale.  When she palpated his
abdomen, she found that his spleen was about twice normal size and one
kidney was larger than the other.  She kept him overnight for bloodwork and
a radiograph, and basically we don't know much more than we did yesterday.
It's probably cancer and we're scheduling him for an exploratory surgery and
likely kidney removal asap.  Here's all his symptoms, test results, etc.
 
We noticed:
-gradual weight loss to the point of very prominent ribs, hip bones, etc.
 Skin hangs loose from his neck.
-gradual decrease in activity, however, he was chasing everyone in the
 house around like a wild weasel yesterday morning before he went to the
 vet's
-appetite seems normal, though I haven't kept close tract.
 Digestion, elimination seems normal.
-Coughing fits over a period of about a week.  This has since gone away.
 It took us a while to figure out who was coughing since it always came
 from a hidden pile of sleeping ferrets.
 
Vet found:
-One kidney and spleen enlarged.  Radiograph showed the kidney was
 abnormal in shape.
-Anemia
-Elevated white blood cell count
-No sign of kidney failure
 
I'm terrified that Mortimer has a malignant tumor and it is already too late
to save him by surgery.  I once lost a cat to a breast tumor that spread
extremely rapidly.  By the time I felt the lumps, they had spread to many of
her internal organs and she had to be euthanized.  I'm hoping that someone
can tell me they've seen kidney cancer (I've never heard of it before) in
ferrets and that Mortimer has a chance of pulling through.  I know he can
survive without the kidney.  I just, well, I'm worried.  He's only fourteen
months old.
 
(The vet has also prescribed antibiotics and an iron supplement.  Should I
try to fatten him up?)
 
-Catherine
[Posted in FML issue 1667]