between my friend & I, we have had around 50/50 results with chemo and lymphoma. we had 1 ferret that passed within 2 weeks of diagnosis, and 1 that was diagnosed after passing. for the first we are not sure if the chemo did anything (we started her on a very mild one) except made her feel a little better for a couple of days, she was 8 years old. had another ferret with multiple problems including lymphoma. his other problems were more severe, and our vets were trying different things that kept his quality of life good for another 10 months... we were hoping for a year.. he passed from kidney failure. we had 1 ferret where chemo kept him alive for about a year. he was still sickly, his health goes in cycles, where he would feel the best right after he got his chemo, and get worst slowly.. we kept him until we felt his quality of life was compromised. another ferret Chika with lymphoma went through a chemo protocol, went into remission, and she's still doing very well after over a year, she was a bit lethargic when she was initially diagnosed. my Sprite was diagnosed with lymphoma over a year ago, we caught it very early, she was showing no signs of illness or lethargy. she went through the same protocol Chika did, but did not go into remission.. currently she's gets epirubicin every 3-4 weeks, depending on her blood tests, and she's doing very well.. the only other thing I have tried is Essiac, in conjunction with the chemo, but I didn't notice any changes and eventually stopped (ferrets didn't like it much). a few vets I have asked believe Essiac improve the quality of life, and I'm quite willing to try it again. I guess for us, we will always try chemo. our vets usually start off with milder drugs, and the ferrets where the milder ones don't do much have always responded to epi. other things we used were erythropoeitin to make rbc values go up and filgrastim to make wbc values go up, when the chemo is a bit rough on the blood values.. -- as an aside to this post, we are really lucky to work with vets who are willing to delve into research and try out new medicines or treatments, as well as listen to our suggestions and explain things to us. we are also really lucky that we live near Toronto where Ferret Aid 2006 will be held.. when I was chatting with Randy a little while ago, she mentioned she was paying the fees for a vet who had done a fair bit for her, and it occured to me that I should do the same thing for my vets. We have offered to pay for conference fees for the 3 vets at the teaching hospital we go to, and hopefully they can all make it. after Randy chatted with her accountant, they are now able to offer tax receipts to any canadians wishing to pay for their vet to attend the conference, so if you are canadian, and especially if you are in the GTA area, please consider sponsoring your vet! if you are driving up, you might have a spot in your car for a vet, and could perhaps share hotel rooms? while Ferret Aid can only offer receipts to Canadians, if you are american and interested in sponsoring a vet, why not discuss matters with the IFC and see if they can help with making the sponsorship tax deductible? conferences are expensive, and good vets don't make that much, so if you can, I am sure this is a gift your vet will appreciate. Selina, Sprite, Dart, Clef, Popcorn, Sorin & Mochi ---- IFC Ferret Aid 2006 POOF! Ferret ART Show & Sale have you started your artwork yet? [Posted in FML issue 5185]