Re:
http://www.smartgroups.com/message/readmessage.cfm?gid=1423922&messageid=3367
 
Sukie's post of the above to the FML caught my eye, and I decided to
respond, since this stuff has been on my mind for a while.  want to
share my experiences as well as ask a couple questions.
 
(BIG: also posting this to the FML since some of the suggestions at
 the end might be useful to the general ferret owner population, hope
 that is okay.)
 
my roommate's ferret Sabre has been diagnosed with lymphoma since last
March.  it actually took a long while to diagnosed him because all his
symptoms were borderline, Sabre was always a trouble maker :).  he was
in a really bad way initially, but we got him over with syringe feedings
and fluids until the vets figured out it was lymphoma and started him on
chemo.  his initial treatment was l-spar and vincristine, and then
alternating vincristine and chlorambucil every 2 weeks up till last
november.  the vincristine always makes him feel better, and gain weight.
we are not sure if the chlorambucil ever did anything useful, since after
2 or 3 weeks he seems to start losing weight and appetite a bit and then
it is time for his vincristine again.  his initial weight during his very
bad period when we were trying to figure out what was wrong was probably
around 750g or so, later he fluctuated between 850g-1000g during those
montly cycles.  he's a long male, so he should probably be 1500g or so.
he's also adrenal and on lupron.  the lupron does make him feel better
and help with the weight gain.
 
his lymph nodes had been getting smaller and were virtually gone until
november (I'm not sure if he actually went into remission, or was just
close to getting into it), when he started doing a bit worst.  we
brought him in and it seems like lymph nodes in different spots were
now enlarged.  he was on l-spar a couple of times, and given epirubicin
as well, and then seem to be okay so went back on vincristine and
chlorambucil (late dec).  the chlorambucil really wasn't doing anything,
and Sabre was considered stable enough that the vets decided to try
cytarabine, which had been successful in dogs and cats but not used in
ferrets (for the reason that it is a series of shots given every 12
hours, and most owners are too squeamish?  to do it on such a small
animal).  the cytarabine didn't make Sabre any worst, we think, but he
was going downhill again, so after consultation with the oncologist Sabre
is now alternating between vincristine and epirubicin, every 10 days or
so (blood test before each to check his WBC).  he's "stable" right now
with weight around 850g, really low, but his spirits are good, and he had
figured out he can be as demanding as he wants so he's constantly coming
up and staring at you until you give him treats or change his water or
whatever :).  btw, through out all this he started off being on chicken
baby food (30cc 3x a day) until around october when we started making
chicken gravy (he gets the same amount).  he gained more weight with the
chicken gravy.  he's also been on pred from the start (initial 2cc dose,
now down to 1cc), and a bunch of different antibiotics periodically.
 
vets have been warning us for a while that since Sabre is relapsing, his
prognosis is not good and we have no idea when he will go.  our best hope
is that he will past peacefully in his sleep.  we are really lucky that
we go to university of Guelph, who have incredibly caring vets, and
experts on site, since our vets consult the oncologists available almost
every visit.  they don't have that many ferrets on chemo, but Sabre is
their miracle ferret since he's the one who has hung around the longest
in all their years of experiences.
 
I guess I was wondering how long can ferrets lived after starting chemo
therapy.  what have been the experiences of the vets on this list?
 
also some suggestions for people, we just started this recently and
wished we did it right from the start.  we got the graph paper with very
fine lines and basically weigh Sabre daily before his afternoon feeding.
we have a kitchen scale that isn't terribly accurate (especially with a
squirming ferret), and only give marks about 25g apart.  but it does give
us a good idea of whether he is stable or gaining or losing.  and he can
lose weight in just a few days.  I think doing this, and charting down as
well when he received the chemo and what antibiotics he is getting (if
any) can help a lot in figuring out what is working and what isn't.  we
wished we had started this sooner.
 
besides the weight thing, which we started on our own, our vets also
asked us to keep track of Sabre's attitude and poop and activity etc.
we came up with something that we can also chart on graph paper and help
us keep things objective.  from best to worst, we track as follows:
 
  food intake
  1. eating kibble
  2. eat gravy out of syringe on own
  3. gravy scruff and stuff (easy)
  4. gravy scruff and stuff (hard)  - he struggles and such
  5. not eating shrimp treats
  6. not eating medi treats
 
  poop (colour)
  1. normal (brown)
  2. not normal - we indicate colour with a colour marker
 
  poop (consistency)
  1. firm
  2. soft
  3. liquid
 
  activity
  1. high     usually going to be medium, it is harder to be
  2. medium - objective here and too many categories will just
  3. low      make things harder to decide
 
other suggestions for stuff to keep track of welcome!
 
we find the charting with graph paper really useful and kind of fun, and
the fine lines mean we can do daily weights if a ferret is kind of down,
or just every 5 days, which is what we are doing for the healthy ones.
now if they come up with graph paper that separates every 7 lines instead
of 5 it would be a lot nicer for charting, but we'll make do :)
 
hope people find the last suggestions useful.
 
// ***************************************
// Selina, Sprite, Sand, Bear, Dart & Clef
// in spirit - Birch, Dief & Storm
// http://www.cgl.uwaterloo.ca/~ssiu
[Posted in FML issue 4069]