Hi All,
Mostly I lurk, and try to catch up.  I'm so far behind, it feels hopeless.
But, I wanted to share something with you, and ask for some advise.
 
We have seven ferrets, ranging in age 2yrs to 7years,9mo.
 
The two oldest are brothers.  Shuhe has had insulinoma diagnosed 2 years
ago.  Had his left adrenal and a lymphnode out in June 97.  No large
pancreatic nodes found at the time.  He is skin and bone, but doing fairly
well on DepoMedrol injections monthly, and Proglycem.
 
Last fall his littermate, Nosey Boy, had a seizure, which my SO treated
successfully with Karo.  His blood sugars ran 40 to 60 when tested.  So,
we put him on the insulinoma soup, with his brother, and no more seizures.
Still sleeping all the time.  Started on Pediapred,0.5ml 2 x a day for a
week, then once daily.  Then, after about three weeks, his abdomen swelled
up.  Started using Viocase instead of papaya enzyme.  Giving daily doses of
Petromalt.  Some hair in stool, but no big difference.  Left out the soy
baby formula.  X-rays inconclusive.  Nearby vet doesn't do surgeries on
very small animals.  They just don't have the equipment, & not a lot of
experience, either.  We took him to our old vet, 1 1/2 hours away.  He felt
he needed to go inside, and see if there wasn't something going on.  I
brought him a copy of Dr. Weis's paper on partial pancreatectomy, when he
examined him the day before surgery.  He agreed to try a partial if it
looked possible, since he was going in.  He removed a large nodule on one
end of the pancreas, and part of the other end that had many small growths.
He also removed an enlarged mesenteric lymph node and said there were many
more at the base of the mesentary.  He said he feared lymphoma.  Friday was
a week since surgery.  Nosey Boy sailed through with flying colors.  We
kept him without food for the eighteen hours that Dr. Weiss recommends, and
he has eaten well, slept well, and healed well.  Not much improvement in
energy.  But, he's not a kit anymore, and just had major surgery, right.
 
Friday, Dr. Benson called me at work, and told me the sad news.  Nosey's
lymph node had malignant lymphoma.  I'm not sure which of us felt more like
crying!
 
I'm sorry this is so long, but I needed to get this off my chest.  I don't
know which way to go now.  Dr. B has no experience using chemo in ferrets.
Is it even worth it?  How hard on the little guy will it be?  If anyone has
any advice, I would surely appreciate it.  We have had these two little
guys since they were 4 1/2 months old, and this is killing us both.
 
Thanks for listening, Mary from Maine
[Posted in FML issue 2594]