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Post by okojosan on Dec 20, 2018 21:20:51 GMT -5
Hi Everyone,
I'd been planning on making an intro post, and I guess I can still do that- later.
My big sweet boy, Claudius Kahless (we just call him Claudius or Claude) was diagnosed with lymphoma yesterday/today.
Briefly: He had been losing weight, I took him to the vet in Nov. She did a physical examination, he was bright-eyed and energetic and at that time I decided not to do a blood draw. He was eating/pooping fine. We decided to see if he would continue to lose.
Dec: Claudius continued to lose weight, I was thinking about taking him back to the vet but he was still, as of Sunday the 16th, racing around playing with my two young sprites. Tuesday the 18th he was vomiting, so he saw the vet again yesterday.
I was worried he might have a blockage or something, so asked the vet to do x-rays. She said his intestines look fine but he had a mass in his chest, and she immediately sent the films to a radiologist. She looked rather shaken, to be honest, and she said the mass was almost as large as his heart. It's above his heart. She tried to draw blood but she wasn't getting any (enough to do a glucose test- his glucose was fine.)
Apparently the radiologist confirmed it's lymphoma and named the lymph nodes involved but I can't remember what they are just at this moment- I'm kind of shell-shocked. The vet mentioned doing an ultrasound-guided biopsy which I will most likely have done, and she mentioned chemo.
I see there is a thread about chemo in the Lymphoma folder so I will read through that.
Claudius is about 5.5 years old. I adopted him in March along with the two 1-year old girls, Nefertiti and Valandris, from our local ferret shelter.
Does anyone have any advice? I have read several articles online about lymphoma in ferrets. The radiologist apparently told my vet that ferrets respond well to chemo.
Thank you for any help!
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Post by unclejoe on Dec 20, 2018 21:45:35 GMT -5
Hi and welcome Sorry your guy has lymphoma. I've been thru it 3 tiimes, and all we did was prednisolone to control inflammation and slow spread of the lymphoma. Sorry to say.
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Post by okojosan on Dec 20, 2018 21:52:06 GMT -5
Thank you, Unclejoe! I'm wrestling with the decision of whether to put him through it, currently. Though really, first I need to get the biopsy done, and then meet with a vet who would actually do the chemo treatment before I decide.
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Post by abbeytheferret6 on Dec 21, 2018 6:46:35 GMT -5
I am so very sorry. I know you feel devastated at the moment. Hoping things will work out for your little one.
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Post by Sherry on Dec 21, 2018 9:48:00 GMT -5
I am sorry about his diagnosis We have had some really good results with higher dose pred as well.
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Post by unclejoe on Dec 21, 2018 12:47:59 GMT -5
Pred could be considered chemo. Anything beyond that could be pretty expensive. I agree with Sherry. I knew a shelter mom in FL who was also an RN, and she said that higher doses of pred initially helped a lot.
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Post by Heather on Dec 22, 2018 11:17:59 GMT -5
I'm so sorry with the diagnosis of lymphoma. It's so common in ferrets not that it makes it any easier. Some have gone the chemo way and as long as you've got a vet that is willing to do this and you don't have to travel to some distant university helps. I've used pred and CBD oil (both together given at different times). The pred is often successful at slowing the growth of the lymphoma and buys a bit of time. How long is entirely dependent on the type of lymphoma and the ferret. At the moment I have 2 with the lymphoma diagnosis. Dodger and Lady Lola....Dodger's is controlled entirely with pred and it appears to be working quite well with the lymphnodes being reduced and the sores gone. Lady Lola's were not responding well so the CBD was added to her regime. She's doing very well with this regime and the lymphnodes have reduced in size. Good luck, I hope you're able to buy some time with your wee one ciao
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Post by okojosan on Dec 27, 2018 3:09:46 GMT -5
Thank you for your well-wishes and advice. I am still struggling with the decision on whether or not to put Claudius through chemotherapy. I did read the stickied thread and it was rather harrowing. I need to call the vet tomorrow and at least set up an ultrasound/consultation with the exotic vet. The problem is that this vet is down in Pullman, about a 90 minute drive from here. And we just got snow today, and I am very anxious about driving in it (although the freeway is probably clear.) My vet does not feel comfortable doing the chemo, I guess, which is why she's sending me to Pullman, but also they are a large veterinary teaching hospital with specialists. I need to find out the length of time the chemo would take, and the cost, sadly.
I wish Claudius could tell me what he wanted. He is actually very active and happy, has been eating all right and is pooping well. He's been playing with the girls and seems pretty jolly still. He's starting to look a little thin to me, but still feels solid when I pick him up.
I think at the least I should start him on prednisolone- I'll call my vet tomorrow and get her opinion. Will he need anything for his tummy on it? I know of someone who gives their ferret Carafate/sucrulfate with the pred.
Unfortunately, up until now I've had experience only with insulinoma and adrenal disease, not lymphoma, so this is new.
Here's Claudius from yesterday- he's crazy about his Pickle Juice. Oddly, he just blew all his winter coat. He did get a new deslorelin implant in November, could that be the reason?
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Post by abbeytheferret6 on Dec 27, 2018 9:57:05 GMT -5
Bless his heart MY girl who had bald spots(adrenal)looked worse before better. Vet confirmed that is how Des implant would affect her. I do not know how it affects those whose coats show no signs of adrenal before the implant. However, it could be like you said--shedding winter coat. I had to look up Pickle juice for ferrets---I never heard of that before. Maybe I need to try that with my boy. He hates pure salmon oil. I know if I keep trying with him he will change his mind---had to do that with my Phoebe. Then, she would not eat mice until I put some on it. Glad she is over that. www.etsy.com/listing/294781515/4-oz-pickle-juice-ferret-treat-oil-120ml
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Post by Heather on Dec 27, 2018 11:56:17 GMT -5
It is known that the DES triggers a hormone surge within the first couple of weeks. In some jills it will cause them to come into season, but as soon as the DES settles, it will take her out again. This surge could cause an unnatural shed in an adrenal ferret. ciao
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Post by okojosan on Dec 27, 2018 15:08:32 GMT -5
Abbeytheferret, my trio LOVES the Pickle Juice! They go crazy for it. I've trained them to come to the clicker with it- they get a lick and then go back in the cage before I have to leave/sleep.
Heather - thanks for that information! When we adopted Claudius, the shelter woman told us he had been slow to blow his coat. He was also very itchy, and I was worried he might be in early adrenal so I decided to start him on the deslorelin.
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Post by okojosan on Jan 13, 2019 17:15:55 GMT -5
Update on Claudius! On January 2nd, Claudius had an ultrasound/biopsy done down at WSU's teaching vet hospital in Pullman. It turns out he does not have lymphoma, but instead a thymoma, which is apparently very common in rabbits. The vet (Dr. Logsdon) was fairly positive that radiation therapy would shrink the tumor. Sadly it can't be completely cured, but they have a lot of good results shrinking the thymoma tumors in rabbits, cats, and dogs, and the tumors are slow-growing so hopefully it would be a year before he would need another treatment. Each treatment of radiation therapy takes 3-5 sessions, done a day or so apart. Claudius is currently being boarded down there, and received his first radiation treatment on Friday (Jan. 11th). I'm hoping to pick him up next Saturday. I asked about side effects, and the oncologist said he might lose some fur on his sides, but because of how his tumor is situated, it will be very easy for them to target the tumor and miss his heart. Sorry for this enormous image, but here is the radiogram my vet took in December, which the oncology vet showed me in Pullman. I also plan to start him on CBD. The woman I adopted him from said someone else had told her that CBD helped shrink lymphoma tumors in their ferret. I talked to my vet about it, and she said she wasn't sure it would shrink the tumor, but it would definitely help with any pain issues he might be having, and she did not have a problem with it. Has anyone else used CBD on their ferrets?
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Post by abbeytheferret6 on Jan 14, 2019 8:48:17 GMT -5
Oh wow! Glad it was not lymphoma. Learning new things---thymoma in ferrets. Nice to see the picture of the tumor--very educational. What is CBD?
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Post by Sherry on Jan 14, 2019 9:18:34 GMT -5
abbeytheferret6 I'd not bother with the pickle juice stuff. Too many seed oils to be worth while. And CBD is cannabidoil. It has shown to be effective in many instances.
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Post by Heather on Jan 14, 2019 11:34:35 GMT -5
I've been using CBD oil on Lady Lola. She was diagnosed with lymphoma last year. She's on pred.....it has helped her deal with the side effects and the arthritis (another issue) but has done nothing to shrink the size of the tumours. They've continued to grow. Now it along with the pred or maybe just the pred has prevented the fast growth of the tumours. When they were discovered, they were growing rapidly. This has slowed the growth but as I said, there is no way of telling if it was the administration of the pred (which also does this) or the CBD. Lady Lola suffered and recovered from a broken back but was suffering from arthritis, this the CBD has helped her with. ciao
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