Possible lymphoma cancer and a rash

[octavia17]

Hello everyone,

I have a ferret name Grimm, he is 6 years old. I’m kinda unsure what to do at this moment. He isn’t doing to hot at the moment. I think it might almost be time to euthanize him. 😔 Back I’m February I took Grimm to the ER. It sound like he was very painful when he had a BM. They did radiographs on him. The vet there seem very sure he has lymphoma cancer from the report. She didn’t feel comfortable doing a FNA on him.

So a few days later I got him in at a exotic vet to do a FNA on him. They were almost sure he has lymphoma cancer, but refuse to do treatment without a biopsy. Sadly I was not able to afford that. So I brought him to a different vet as a drop off. Once he found out Grimm was now having problems moving his back end.

He wasn’t sure what Grimm had. Said there was no point in doing a Biopsy if I can’t afford chemo. He was confused mostly because the tumor on his stomach did shrink, but his health is going down hill fast. This all happen in less than three weeks. He said the tumor is blocking some nerves which is making his back legs weak. So the vet gave me a few options.

He said we can do prednisone. If the tumor shrinks then it’s lymphoma cancer. If it doesn’t shrink than it’s not. He said we can try antibiotics since the vet I saw last year thought he had lymphoma cancer, but put him on that and the nodes shrink in size. He also said I could just do nothing and see if it will keep shrinking.

We both decided to try prednisone. I have a recheck appt with him March 22, but now Grimm is just wanting to sleep. He is still eating and drinking. I’m worried since he can’t walk well with his back legs he is getting dirty from his poop and pee. He is sitting in it. I keep cleaning him off, but now he is getting a nasty rash from it. Im not sure what is safe to put on him to help. I’m going to call a different vet to see if they can get me in Tuesday. In the mean time what can I put on his rash until then? I feel so bad for him. I have no clue by this point what to do. I feel like he just keeps getting worst no matter what I do. Thank you for reading.

[unclejoe]

Hi. Sorry you are dealing with this. I have had several go thru the same thing, and it;s really a matter of quality of life and how patient you are with cleaning him up. I would have recommended prednisolone, which is just a processed form of prednisone, so it just saves the liver a little stress. You can give the pred some time to work, but I suggest no more than a month. In that time you should know if the treatment is helping. In my experience, lymphoma cases have lasted less than a year on pred. I have had two with the aggressive form that passed in 2 months.
You can try some hydrocortisone cream on his rash.
I'm sorry. 6 years is about the time the medical issues start in many cases.

[Charlie]

I'm so sorry you are going through this. I hope you can keep him comfortable. Unfortunately I have no suggestions to offer. My ferret is not at that stage in life yet with health issues. Poor little guy. I hope the prednisone helps.

[abbeytheferret6]

I am so sorry that your little one is sick.

In the mean time what can I put on his rash until then?

Maybe dipping his lower half in a pan of warm water every now and then and blow drying his bottom will help.

If you have hope, then continue to do what you can, but if you feel things are deteriorating----it is ok to let them go. I put mine to sleep once I see things are bad. However, I did have one pass away recently at home---the first one that ever passed away at home. She had an adrenal tumor that burst near the vena cava. While passed away, her little tail was bushed out. I know she suffered because ferrets tails bush out when in pain or when excited. If I had known how bad off she was, I would have put her to sleep. Probably an ultrasound would have been my best to see her true condition. Her hair grew back after I got her a DES implant. She never had wasted muscles that they say that goes along with adrenal disease. I could only see the exterior.

[octavia17]

Thanks for the reply guys. I got Grimm as a drop off appt tomorrow with a different vet.

[Charlie]

Keep us posted. I hope the vet can do something for him.

[octavia17]

Mar 17, 2021 19:54:44 GMT -5 Charlie said:

Keep us posted. I hope the vet can do something for him.

Turns out he has no control over his bladder now, so I have to express it for him three times a day. They said the rash happen because he was leaking urine slowly. They gave me antibiotics to give him and a cream to put on his rash. Bright side since the antibiotics his appetite has went up just a little and he seems more alert now. He is taking me expressing his bladder very well, but will fight me putting the cream on him. Thought inside my head I’m shock by how fast his health declined. I didn’t think that would happen so fast.

[Charlie]

They have fast metabolisms so it seems to hot them faster. I'm noticing with the coivd pandemic, it's much harder getting vet appointments. This is a concern to get pets in quickly to deal with situations with pets who decline quickly.

Poor little guy that he can't urinate on his own. What is causing this to happen? Is there a blockage of some kind? Glad he is eating much better though.

[octavia17]

Mar 18, 2021 22:02:48 GMT -5 Charlie said:

They have fast metabolisms so it seems to hot them faster. I'm noticing with the coivd pandemic, it's much harder getting vet appointments. This is a concern to get pets in quickly to deal with situations with pets who decline quickly.

Poor little guy that he can't urinate on his own. What is causing this to happen? Is there a blockage of some kind? Glad he is eating much better though.

They didn’t say he was blocked, but they didn’t say why he can’t urinate on his own. I also didn’t ask since I didn’t think about that question until you said somethings. I was just happy she didn’t tell me to euthanize him. I’ve noticed that was exotic vets. It’s really hard to get an appt that isn’t a drop off. I have a recheck appt with the original doctor, but because of my work schedule and his schedule I have to leave Grimm there for two nights. Which I’m kinda nervous about.... Oh but update it has been a few days since he been on antibiotics. He is way more perky and is eating now. His rash isn’t bad now at all. He will fight you over the ointment.

[Charlie]

Glad he is improving. Maybe you can ask why he can't urinate on his own any longer. That's good he is allowing you to express his bladder for him and the rash is clearing up and he has his appetite back. Does he try licking off the ointment?

[octavia17]

Mar 24, 2021 20:34:37 GMT -5 Charlie said:

Glad he is improving. Maybe you can ask why he can't urinate on his own any longer. That's good he is allowing you to express his bladder for him and the rash is clearing up and he has his appetite back. Does he try licking off the ointment?

Yes he licks the ointment off. Lol He had another recheck with the doctor that said he has cancer. He wants to try to remove the tumor since it’s smaller, but now it’s hard. So the tumor is changing. He said he will try to remove it, but if he can’t than he thinks I should euthanize on the table. He will be doing the surgery tomorrow. I just got back from visiting him. I wish I could’ve stay longer, but I had to go back to work.

[eclipso]

I heard that in humans, if pred is given long-term, it can have side effects like higher blood glucose and stomach upsets. You should always give pred with food so it doesn't hurt the stomach as much. Also remember to ease him off of it slowly if the vet says that your ferret doesn't need it anymore. This is because the ferret's body will get used to the med. Hope your ferret feels better.

[Charlie]

Mar 25, 2021 14:41:53 GMT -5 octavia17 said:

Mar 24, 2021 20:34:37 GMT -5 Charlie said:

Glad he is improving. Maybe you can ask why he can't urinate on his own any longer. That's good he is allowing you to express his bladder for him and the rash is clearing up and he has his appetite back. Does he try licking off the ointment?

Yes he licks the ointment off. Lol He had another recheck with the doctor that said he has cancer. He wants to try to remove the tumor since it’s smaller, but now it’s hard. So the tumor is changing. He said he will try to remove it, but if he can’t than he thinks I should euthanize on the table. He will be doing the surgery tomorrow. I just got back from visiting him. I wish I could’ve stay longer, but I had to go back to work.

Oh no, I hope you have good news for us.  Please say you still have Grimm.

[octavia17]

Mar 28, 2021 11:02:18 GMT -5 Charlie said:

Mar 25, 2021 14:41:53 GMT -5 octavia17 said:

Yes he licks the ointment off. Lol He had another recheck with the doctor that said he has cancer. He wants to try to remove the tumor since it’s smaller, but now it’s hard. So the tumor is changing. He said he will try to remove it, but if he can’t than he thinks I should euthanize on the table. He will be doing the surgery tomorrow. I just got back from visiting him. I wish I could’ve stay longer, but I had to go back to work.

Oh no, I hope you have good news for us.  Please say you still have Grimm.

Sadly Grimm was euthanized on Friday. The doctor was unable to remove the tumor. He did another FNA on him, while he was on the table. He said with this type of tumor even if he was to remove part of the tumor it will grow back very fast.

[unclejoe]

I'm so sorry to read this. I hope it helps to know that you gave him a good life, and you did all you could, more than many ferret "owners" would. DIP Grimm.