Hi again all.
 
Some of you may recall my 8 month old boy Buster passed away a few weeks
ago.  He chewed up a sock, got a bowel obstruction, had surgery, had many
complications after surgery, and passed away 3 weeks later.
 
The lab work came back on Buster's final tissue samples.  It looks like
he had some serious problems developing before he ever ate that sock.
Although his organs looked healthy, microscopic examination shows the poor
little guy had cancer.  That must be why he wasn't able to bounce back
after surgery.  Here's a summary of the final diagnosis:
 
- Hepatic Lipidosis: diffuse and severe with mild neutrophilic hepatitis
- Splenic Lymphoma
- Multiple Renal Cysts: microscopic, probably no effect on renal function
- Unilateral Pyelonephritis: acute, mild, neutrophilic with mild
  hydronephrosis
 
Also, most of the spleen "was occupied by neoplastic lymphocytes and it
is likely that the tumor had metastasized to other sites".
 
I guess there's nothing anybody could have done for my poor Buster.  Hard
to believe one so young and full of life could have had cancer.  At least
he had a good life for the short time he had, made lots of friends and
played hard every day.  And he got to grow up with one of his littermates,
something many ferrets don't get to do.
 
Since Buster's sister Pandora has been without a playmate for over a
month now, I brought home a new little boy on Friday.  She's still
learning to accept him, but I'm sure in time they'll be best friends.
 
Thanks to everyone who emailed me with support over Buster's passing.  I
will post pictures of the new guy on my web page in a few weeks.
 
--
John Rosloot, Caregiver to Pandora and Smokey
With loving memories of my Big Buster Boy
my dear departed Buddy,
my precious little Cassie-angel,
and my Silly Snuggly Sammy
http://www.cs.uregina.ca/~john/ferrets
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[Posted in FML issue 3713]