Stacey, Was the lymphoma diagnosed through testing, or did the vet just say it was lymphoma? I would have a sample taken (aspirate, or biopsy) to confirm. That being said - if he is not his old happy self and the tumor is growing, you likely have a ferret that has lymphoma spreading throughout the body, affecting other systems, making him feel tired. Have you done any x-rays to see if the lymphoma is in the lungs? Or ultrasound? I don't have a ton of money and the first thing I do is have the vet do an x-ray. The x-ray will show lymphoma in the lungs plain as day. Once it's at this point if the ferret is not having "a fun time" we slowly ponder euthanasia, but usually hang on until they stop eating or drinking for longer than 48 hours, and have exhausted all prednisilone options. *skip over if you don't want to read my experience with chemo* I used to do Tufts protocol for lymphoma in ferrets when I was in Michigan where it was affordable. It requires a vet that will contact the people who do the protocol (email me if you need it), as well as access to a chemotherapy drug that is class X a few weeks into the protocol. It is a sub-q treatment which means they won't use ferret's veins to deliver the drugs, and the drugs are also flushed out by giving sub-q fluids after treatment. Just don't let the fuzzy pee on you the day of treatment and you are fine. As for finding a vet that does class X, any vet who does cat/dog chemotherapy should do it, and will not charge you for the whole bottle as they are using the bottle for other patients (they should just charge you for your part of it). Or you can contact universities. Michigan State's oncology center did my chemo for me when it was needed. It was only one visit and I think I paid under $150. Each week was varied. I went to the hospital and got the needed drugs, then brought them to the vet for the session. Working out lower fees with the vet helps, too, as you may need to go once a week for many months. The drugs were sometimes $14 a week, one or two times they were around $80. *end skip* Anyway - does chemo help? I believe it all depends on how your ferret feels and what stage they are in. If they have advanced lymphoma and it's in the abdomen, it may not help much, similar to the lungs. If it's early on and you only have some armpit tumors, you may be in luck. Then again, who is to say that without palliative treatment (prednisilone) a ferret may not last as long as one with chemo. I have one who has been treated with Pred for about 8 months now. He's still kicking despite some major scares, and we forget he's "on death's door" quite a lot. Your ferret at 3 is at the brink where it is hard to say if he has aggressive lymphoma or not. The younger a ferret is when they have it, the more quickly the disease moves. It sounds as if your fuzzy might do well with some Pred and hoping for the best. When Grey crashed I kept him alive with pred until he got to the vet, and he's done well since. His tumors are still there inside him (he has abdominal ones) but he is fine otherwise. He has his "tired" days and his good days, but I know for sure without the Prednisilone he'd be gone by now. It's not like it cures anything, but it buys time. Sometimes, it seems, quite a bit of time if you're lucky. Good luck, Laryssa [Posted in FML 6295]