After attending the National Ferret Symposium in Baltimore this past
weekend, I've realized how much we still have to learn about treating
lymphoma in ferrets.  We don't even come close to the survival rates in
people, and I think it is in part because we tend not to be aggressive in
treating it.  I'm asking owners of ferrets with lymphoma to furnish me with
some data if you would like to help advance the cause of treating lymphoma.
 
I'm open to alternative treatments as well as standard ones.  We have to
start separating out the things that actually work from the things we think
are working but may have no real relevance.  For example, Lymphoma of the
lymph nodes or skin in ferrets tends not to be particularly aggressive, and
an individual may live up to two years with no treatment at all.  Therefore,
we must be cautious in attributing remissions to treatments that may be
doing nothing at all.
 
If you'd like to contribute, I need the following information:
 
age and sex of ferret
when lympho was diagnosed and how it was diagnosed
any current blood work
any current treatments (this includes vitamins, diet, etc)
 
As many of you know, I do tend to regard things with a skeptical eye.  I
don't think this is a bad thing.  This is how we learn what really works
and what doesn't.  One of the best pieces of advice I've ever gotten was
from Carl Sagan's book The Demon-Haunted World: "Keep an open mind, but not
so open that your brains fall out."
 
Debbie Kemmerer
[Posted in FML issue 2383]