To John Rosloot:
>And the vet removed 12 small tumors from Bud's pancreas.  I guess this is
>a little more serious, as I've read pancreatic cancer often recurs.  But
>the vet said the tumors didn't seem to be bothering Bud yet; his bloodwork
>came back normal, as it did the last couple of times it was checked, so
>even if they do recur the vet thinks they might not become serious for
>years (and at Bud's age, he probably hasn't got many years left anyway).  I
>guess only time will tell.
 
    This is one I hear a lot.  Ten or twelve pancreatic tumors.  This
always worries me.
 
    The largest number of insulinomas that I have ever seen in four.
Ferrets get an age-related finding which is also seen in older cats known as
pancreatic acinar hyperplasia.  this is a non-neoplastic proliferation of
small nodules in the pancreas, which are very normal.  The problem is that
while this nodular change is perfectly normal and doesn't hurt anything,
many vets interpret it as a proliferation of islet cell tumors, and start
taking them out.  Now the ferret pancreas is fairly forgiving for surgery,
but when you take out this many nodules, you stand a good chance of causing
a rip-roaring pancreatitis.
 
    Not to scare you, John, but hoping that the vets and vet techs on the
list will be cautious when looking at pancreases with a lot of small
nodules....
 
Bruce Williams, DVM, DACVP
Dept. of Vet Path, AFIP
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Chief Pathologist, AccuPath
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[Posted in FML issue 1297]