First of all many thanks to those of you who e-mailed me on the loss of Carnath on the 23rd June. It has taken me until today to get a copy of the path labs report from my vet. Carnath became ill on the Saturday evening - the 20th, he was off his food and his stools were very loose. The following day things were pretty much the same and I was giving him drinks of glucose to prevent him becoming dehydrated. First thing Monday morning I took him to the vet where he was given Baytril by injection and also given an electrolyte to help with the dehydration. I was up at 3 a.m. the following morning trying to get him to drink more glucose by this time he was passing pure blood in his stools. I took Carnath to the vet again as things were looking really bad. Jo, the vet, phoned John Dinsdale at my request (John is a brilliant ferret vet) to run Carnath's symptoms past him. John approved of the treatment that Jo was giving Carnath but I think he may have remarked to Jo that the prognosis was poor. Carnath stopped taking fluids around mid-day, at 4 p.m. I phoned the vet to make an appointment for the final visit. At 4.25 Carnath gave a little whimper and passed over the bridge. I took his body to the vet for a post mortem. The following day when I collected his body so that I could bury him near Jill, Jo said that she'd sent various tissues off to the path lab and that she hadn't seen anything obvious that could have caused his death: 3rd July, 1998 MACROSCOPIC: 6 post mortem tissues. MICROSCOPIC: The section of lung reveals a severe multifocal to local extensive interstitial and intra alveolar infiltrate of large atypical lymphoid-like cells with fewer histiocytes, plasma cells, small lymphocytes and eosinophils admixed. In small isolated foci, the cell infiltrate is interstitial and perivascular. In more severely affected areas the alveolar spaces are consolidated with similar cells. The large lymphoid- like cells have a large hyperchromatic nucleus often with a distinct nucleolus. The nuclear profile is round to ovoid but sometimes irregular. These cells have a small amount of amphophilic cytoplasm. There is a marked similar cellular infiltrate multifocally in the renal cortex. In severest areas there is marked loss of renal parencheyma, coagulative necrosis and haemorrhage. The splenic red pulp is hypercellular - the cellularity is of large undifferentiated round cells, variably mature granulocytes, plasma cells and some megakaryocyte's. In the myocardium, there is a minimal focal interstitial infiltrate of large lymphocytes. In the liver there is congestion and marked diffuse hepatocytic fatty change. The section of small intestine is unremarkable. DIAGNOSIS: Lymphoma? COMMENT: The interpretation is not straightforward. Significant lesions are present in the lung, kidney and spleen. The mixed nature of the cellularity initially suggests inflammation but the presence of a predominant population of apparently atypical lymphoid cells strongly raises the suspicion of lymphoma. Specially stained sections failed to reveal any bacteria, including acid-fasts or fungi. This is not a case of Distemper and Aleutian disease also seems very unlikely. Several forms of lymphoma occur in ferrets - one of them known as an immuno- blastic polymorphous variant and this may be such a case. The lesion also has some features of lymphomatoid granulomatosis, a rare condition seen most often in dogs. Lymphomatoid granulomatosis is considered to be a T-cell lymphoma. I will speak to Mike Day at Bristol University to see if we can further characterise these cells immunohistochemically. If he cannot help, I will submit this case to the AFIP for a second opinion. However, a result from them may take several weeks to months. I apologise for the delay in reporting this case, but I needed to examine multiple special stained sections in pursuit of the diagnosis. Thanks for submitting this interesting case. Malcolm A Silkstone BVSc MRCVS Poor Carnath he was an unremarkable 5 y.o. ferret but the cause of his death seem to be of great interest to a path lab. Sheila Bolton Ferret Welfare & National Ferret Welfare Society Newsletter Editor http://www.btinternet.com/~sheila/ferrets.htm (Last Update 7 Aug, 1998) Waiting at Rainbow Bridge: Jill, Deanna Troi, Cameron & Carnath [Posted in FML issue 2395]