Hi Kirstin, we're very sorry that you lost your ferret.  One of our ferrets
died (he had lymphosarcoma) not very long ago, so we know how it feels.
Even tough it won't be of any use for you now, we had a problem with one of
our ferrets that was very similar to that of Robin, and we think that if we
mention it, may help someone down the road.About a year ago Figa, one of our
ferrets, developed symptoms that were very similar to what you described.
He is a neutered male and was approximately 12 months old at that time.  He
too was almost completely normal until IT happened.  Then he just got sick.
He became very lethargic, his gums and nose were pale and he had slight
respiratory problems.  We took the guy to emergency clinic (it was a middle
of the night on weekend).  At first, they couldn't figure out what was wrong
with him.  They suspected an accident - a fall or an electric shock.  The
guy was dehydrated, X-rays showed enlarged spleen, enlarged lymph nodes, and
fluid in his lungs (this last finding was subsequently questioned by another
vet).  Anyway, he was in really bad shape and everything seemed to indicate
that we would lose him that very night.  One of the vets at the clinic even
suggested putting him to sleep right away!We decided to do everything we
could to save the guy.  They injected him with Lasix (to get rid of the
fluid in his lungs that probably wasn't even there), put him on Sub-Q fluids
and placed him in an oxygen tank.  Next day he appeared to be stabilising,
however he was still in an extremely bad shape.This time the diagnosis
wasn't lymphosarcoma but cardiomyopathy.  They couldn't tell what kind of
cardiomyopathy it was, but it just couldn't be anything else.  We believed,
and so did our regular vet.  Anyway, she decided to call all the ferret
experts she could think of (including people in Saskatoon college and
several vets in the US) to confirm the diagnosis.  Everyone seemed to agree -
it was cardiomyopathy all right!  The most optimistic prognosis was several
weeks.Shortly after the initial thing, Figa developed a second degree heart
block.  We put him on Lasix, Lanoxin, and antibiotics to prevent potential
pneumonia.  As it later turned out, the antibiotic and not the heart drugs
probably saved his life.  Just to see what kind of cardiomyopathy it was, we
did an ultrasound of his heart.  It showed his heart to be perfectly
unremarkable!  However, even then nobody seemed to question the diagnosis!In
about a month Figa improved greatly.  We were very surprised when after a
while the heart block went away!  Was it consistent with cardiomyopathy?  I
don't think so, but since he was "responding so well" to the heart
medication, no one really noticed.  We kept doing periodic X-rays of his
chest to monitor the progress of his cardiomyopathy (it was deemed to be
'diluted' by then).  The heart kept enlarging, but the ferret was still
doing great.  We knew that it had to end sooner or later but since he was
clinically fine we tried not to think about it too much.  More than six
months later Figa suddenly lost appetite.  Since our vet wasn't available at
that time, we moved the guy to another clinic to see a vet who was supposed
to be experienced with ferrets.  And she really was... At first she wasn't
sure what was wrong with him.  She suspected elevated digoxin levels as the
cause of the anorexia.  Meanwhile, she did a biopsy of one of his lymph
nodes to exclude the possibility of lymphosarcoma (he had his lymph nodes
aspirated a while ago and they were negative but she wanted to make sure
that the needle didn't miss the actual nymph node).  Pathology results came
back and he was OK in terms of the cancer, but the lymph nodes were infected
and degenerated beyond recognition.
 
Unfortunately, Figa developed a post-surgical infection.  He was put on
antibiotics, but they didn't appear to be working (culture was not in yet).
Anyway, one evening he was running a bad fever (41C) so we decided to take
him to the emergency clinic again to put him on injectable antibiotics and
Sub-Q fluids, just to get him through the night.  We were lucky enough to
meet the same vet who initially diagnosed him with cardiomyopathy.  Now she
completely changed her mind and insisted the guy was about to die from
LYMPHOSARCOMA!  We were about to grab him and run, but we needed the
injections.  Her reasoning was simple - she had a ferret with VERY enlarged
lymph nodes, huge spleen, and a shaven neck.  So what else could it be!  We
told her that he had pathology done twice, that the results were just in and
he definitely did not have lymphosarcoma.  It was of no use - she was sure!
She kept telling us that she was very experienced with "exotics" and had
seen hundreds ferrets like that.  This we won't question... She stopped
short of suggesting an appropriate chemotherapy protocol...
 
Cutting the thing short - the guy had to spend about two months on Baytril,
he had his spleen removed (a note to Dr. Williams - he was anaemic before
the spleen surgery and went back to normal very shortly afterwards), but now
is perfectly healthy, active, and has a normal appetite.  The cause of his
initial "heart problems" was an infection that caused that lymph node
enlargement, which in turn induced his "heart problems".  After we dropped
Lanoxin his, heart started to shrink remarkably.  It is now of its original
size on X-rays (the unusually tall spike on his EKG also got back to
normal).  And the heart block did not come back...We did have a very young
ferret (less than one year old) with lymphosarcoma.  He died - not of
lymphosarcoma though... A gross overdose of Lasix that was supposed to help
him with pretty minor respiratory problems (he was on chemo and developed an
infection), administered by yet another vet, killed him very efficiently!
Believe me, lymphosarcoma is fast and deadly, but not as deadly and
definitely not as efficient in killing as an ignorant vet!  And it usually
does make sense (if one can afford it) to treat lymphosarcoma in ferrets
with chemotherapy.  They may never go into remission but, taking into
account that the side effects are really not that severe, it is probably
more than worthwhile to buy them some quality time.  We are sorry, but what
you wrote reminds us so much of what happened to our ferrets... We just
cannot comprehend several things:
 
1.  How a vet can be SURE that a ferret has cancer without sending samples
for pathology (spleen and lymph nodes enlargement - was it all?) 2.  How can
she make a decision not to try to stabilise a ferret in distress (at the
very least give him some fluids if he is dehydrated and put him into an
incubator!) 3.  How can she try to draw blood from a ferret who isn't
sedated (or under anaesthetic) - what was she trying to test it for anyway?
White cell count?  4.  How can she make the decision not to inform you about
available treatment options 5.  How can she ignore your telling her that the
ferret is lethargic and explain it with his "entering yet another phase of
ferret-ness and calming down even more." Has she seen a single ferret
outside her exam room?
 
We know that it is of no help for Robin, but for the sake of your other
ferrets we think you should get another vet.  From our experience, very few
vets know much about ferrets.  Few vets will admit they just don't know, and
even fewer are willing to do some research to make up for their
deficiencies.  One way or another, if you walk into an exam room with a
really sick animal and discover that the vet has all the answers, you'd
better run.
 
Monika & Matthew Marcinkowski (Edmonton, Alberta)
[Posted in FML issue 1696]