Spleen:
 
Well, first off, lymphoma can NOT be diagnosed by anything except a
biopsy with pathology done.
 
Secondly, the most common cause of enlarged spleens is chronic infection
(often GI), so if the ferret's body or the meds given begin to fight
infection better then the spleen can go down.  Sometimes that improvement
is long term, sometimes not.
 
BTW, gentle massage -- NOT to be done without vet approval and
instruction because in the wrong causes a spleen may be close to rupture
and a massage could endanger it -- can sometimes be an effective trick
for reducing splenic size very temporarily when the vet okays it's use.
We had one little one years back who was battling multiple problems but
was no longer a surgical candidate for health reasons whose spleen would
constipate her due to its size and we were able to not only provide a a
very careful abdominal massage up along the ascending colon, across, and
down the descending colon which she enjoyed and found comforting and
which also which helped her defecate while reducing her spleen at the
same time.  Again, though, that needs vet instruction and vet okay before
trying it.
 
When a spleen is so large that rupture is a hazard or so large that it
reduces comfort or mobility the standard practise is to remove it.
Ferrets do very well without their spleens, and ones who have been
hampered by that enormous organ tend to become very active once again.
 
The way to diagnose insulinoma is by a blood glucose level test,
remembering that it's best to read it as fast as possible because ferret
blood gobbles sugars if it sits around.  Again, surgery by a vet who
understands the nuances of insulinoma in ferrets and how to safely
operate on ferrets is the most effective thing to do early on.  When a
ferret is not a surgical candidate then there are medications such as
Prednisone/Prednisolone and Diazoxide.  (Some ferrets do not respond to
Prednisone but do respond to Prednisolone.  It appears that some have
trouble with a liver converting step required by Prednisone but not by
Prednisolone.) ---
 
ECE:
Mike, how long in the past did they have it?  ECE remains contagious for
at least 6 months; some writings say at least 8 months.  When it came to
our household we didn't go anywhere near other ferrets for a full year
afterward to be safest and that allowed our ferrets to not spread their
infection, so timing is very important.
---
 
http://www.ferretcongress.org not only gets you to information about the
upcoming October ferret symposium in Atlanta, but it also helps you link
to sources of essential information such as listings of recommended
ferret vets, vets' pages designed to teach ferret people and vets, a list
of compounding pharmacies, archives, the FHL, a poisoning info resource,
and much more.  Just go to the site and click on the critical references
mention in the menu to your left.
[Posted in FML issue 4236]