My ferret has cancer

[killertheturtle]

Hello,
My 8 year old ferret, Ozzy, has cancer. It has metastasised (sp?) to his lungs, however he is breathing fine and his lungs sound normal.
I'm a vet tech at a hospital that only sees cats and dogs, so the doctor I took him to does not have a lot of experience with ferrets. However, the cancer was obvious in the xrays to both me and her. Plus all of his lymph nodes are enlarged. She has done a lot of reading and we are going to start him on prednisone tonight (0.5 mgs twice a day... no longer than 9 weeks, but I doubt he'll be around that long). I cannot afford surgery to remove the mass, especially if it ends up being his pancreas or spleen (the doctor could not identify exactly what the growth is. I'm confidant it is not his adrenal gland(s)).
Anyway, he is eating, drinking, alert, and still plays/explores a little. He has lost weight, is weak, and has a hard time balancing. I've been spoiling him with nurtical and will be giving subQ fluids as needed.

Does anyone have any type of gestimate at how long he'll be around? Is the cancer going to hurt soon? Is there anything aside from what I'm doing now that would make him more comfortable?
I do plan to euthanize him once I can tell he's ready, I just would really like an idea of when that will be. This may sound silly, but I know when that time comes he will let me know.
Anything I should look out for specifically?

Thank you in advance.

 

[jcottonl02]

I am so sorry about Ozzy

Would surgery help? If it has metastisised then surgery usually doesn't remove it all. The best chance (in humans) would be chemo or radiotherapy, but I don't know what the treatments are in animals.

If he is already weak, and unable to stand unaided, then I would imagine the cancer is hurting him, and you should try and get some painkillers. Make his last few weeks as painfree as possible.

I don't really know anything on the subject, but thought I'd post as you haven't got any replies. I hope someone who has experience with this can come and offer advice.

Jen

 

[dazsgeo]

I'm sorry you are having to go through this with Ozzy. I have 7 ferrets right now and I think of them as heart break pets because they are so prone to health problems.

Lymphoma is very common in ferrets and I have lost 2 to this cancer. I did put both on pred as soon as they were diagnosed and both lived over a year taking pred every day (ferrets don'tusually developthe same issues as other species do on pred although they do loose muscle mass and get the pred bellies). Ferret Health Careis a great website that has information on different ferret illnesses. There is also a link on there to the Ferret Health Email list archives where you can search for more info.

Have you checked his blood glucose? I ask because of you mentioninghe is weak and having a hard time balancing. Insulinoma is another common cancer in ferrets and those arecommon symptoms of it.

I hope Ozzy is feeling better.

dawn

 

[missyscove]

I know basically nothing about ferrets, but I'll be keeping your little Ozzy in my thoughts.
I completely understand what you mean when you say he'll let you know when it's time.

 

[killertheturtle]

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate it.

Dazsgeo, I posted this thread the day I started Ozzy on pred and he is doing great. Energy level is up (not like it was before, but still much better), he is hungry, alert, playing, balancing ok (still, not 100% but better), etc. That makes me very happy to hear your ferrets lasted a year on pred... I'm not going to get my hopes up but with how well he is doing on it I am feeling a little optimistic.
We tried getting blood but just couldn't. The best way to do it is to anesthetize and get it from the vena cava, but I didn't want to put him under, even if for a few seconds.. do you think it is worth the anesthesia risk?

 

[Nancy McClelland]

We understand what you're going thru. We had a Doberman, Dogbert that got bone cancer in one of his front legs. By the time it was spotted and diagnosed, there was no treating it, so we did the same. As long as he was happy, eating and getting around we we're fine, but, we knew that the final day would come and we'd make that last vet trip. We sure do miss him as he was such a sweet dog and never bothered any of the other pets--he was the biggest we had in over 30 years as he weighed in at 141 pounds. We'll keep you and Ozzy in our prayers.ray:

 

[dazsgeo]

It's great that he is doing better! Actually it kind of makes me wonder more about insulinoma since pred is part of the Mangement of insulinoma. Pred raises blood glucose for about 9 hrs. I worked as a tech and hated trying to pull blood from ferrets. I probably wouldn't want to put him under anesthesia either. That is a risk itself. If you have a glucometer you might want to a least try to get a drop of blood to check the BG. A foot pad or the tail tip are good spots to prick using a lancet for blood. I would warm them up first to increase the blood flow. If your clinic uses the Alpha Trak it should be used on the dog setting for ferrets. Even getting a BG might not be conclusive since glucose levels can can up and down in ferrets, but it might at least give you an idea.

Have you ever feed him chicken baby food? Since ferrets need high protein diets, a lot of ferret people give their chicken baby food or make what is called "Duk soup" The Duk soup is just a pureed food people make that is like the baby food. I used to boil or bake dark meat chicken soak some ferret kibble until it was soft and puree it my food processor (I removed the bones). I'd add a little Ferretone and some Nupro vitamin supplement. I fed it to all my fuzzbutts that were sick and they loved it. It was even great for hiding the pred in.

 

[killertheturtle]

Thank you Nancy.

dazsgeo, we do have the alpha track glucometer... I will give that a try.
Like I said, we're not sure of the type of cancer it is, just that it is cancer.
I fed him duck soup when he had corona virus a few years ago, he did like it. However, he is still eating his regular food plus nutrical. Should I just keep it at that or also give the duck soup? No need to hide the pred, I got it compounded and it is super easy to give. Were your ferrets on pred BID or SID? I would love to put him on it SID, maybe a higher dose... is that possible? Obviously I'd consult the vet, just wondering if you had any experience with that.

 

[dazsgeo]

My ferret with the lymphoma was on it SID; my ones that had insulinoma were on it BID. I did the tablets after getting tired of the pharmacy that compiunded my pred not having it ready. Plus the tablets were so much cheaper for me.

I tend to not give Nutrical unless the ferret is not eating their normal food, but that's me. I do it mostly because ferrets are carnivores and need more protein. The sugar in it was also not good for my guys with insulinoma since it caused their BG to rise and then fall fast.

If you do try to check a BG, you may want to check right before you give a scheduleddose of pred since pred raises the BG.

May I ask where the cancer was seen on the radiograph? You mentioned the lymph nodes were enlarged, are they hard? Older ferrets are prone to enlarged spleens which many people worry means they have cancer, but it is almost always a benign condition.

It's good to know he is coming along okay.

 

[killertheturtle]

Ok, I'll switch back to ferretvite instead of nutrical... was giving the nutrical, honestly, because I get it for free and didn't realize there was that much of a difference.
Where exactly the mass is was inconclusive (would need to do an ultrasound I think). I have the rads and could upload them if you want. The doctors were thinking spleen, though. Lymph nodes are hard, yes. What does hard vs. soft mean?
What mg of tabs were you giving? The lowest does we carry is 5mg... which is way too high, thus the compounding.

 

[dazsgeo]

Ferretvite is pretty much the same as Nutrical so no reason to change. I don't use any of the high sugar supplements. If he is doing well and doesn't have insulinoma and it's helping, continue to give it.

Ferrets can develop fat pads around their lymph nodes that when many people notice think it's cancer especially since lymphoma is common in ferrets. The only real way to tell if it is cancer is to do a biopsy, although if they are rock-hard like a marble, there's a good chance it is. THis is a picture of a ferret I used to ahve an you can kind of see her lymph nodes on either side of her neck.

Pred comes in 1mg tablets. The vet tech at the vet hospital I used to work at checked with one of the drug reps and ordered it for me. I used a pill cutter to split them and then crushed them to sprinkle on the Duk soup. I figure with some loss due to splitting, each quarter tablet was about 0.2mg. What I was getting that was compounded was a suspension not a solution so the amount of pred in that varied slightly with each dose just as the split tablets did. It would cost me $30 for the compounded liquid pred which lasted a month. I spent about the same for 100 tablets.