FERRET HELP PLEASE fur loss, listless, large mass

Question
My daughter has a female that is 6 years of age who is very ill. We noticed hair loss about 8 months ago, and she is now bare on her lower back and her tail does not have much either. We thought Adrenal Disease and have been giving her liquid melatonin, which helped grow back some fur... two weeks ago, she started to act very listless, no energy at all...just wanting to sleep, and she is scratching like crazy. We took her to our vet (one of which is not too knowledgeable about ferrets as our regular
vet retired a year ago) and they took an x-ray of her abdomen which showed a huge mass in there. They think it may be an enlarged spleen? The vet suggested exploratory
surgery which scared us because our girl is 6 years old and weak.  They sent us home with Prednisone 1.5mg/ml and we are to give her 1.0 ml once a day. Now the mass in her abdomen is huge, I can feel it from the outside of her body. Her breathing is labored. We are feeding her duck soup, she will eat some dry food here and there... she will try to play at times and other times, she just wants to sleep.
My question... is there anything we should be doing for her? Should we let them do exploratory surgery or would it
help? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Kathy

Answer
Hi Kathy:

So sorry to hear your little girl is having a rough time. That's a hard call on whether to do surgery or not.  There's always the possibility that it is her spleen, they could remove it and she could be just fine and have several more years with you. Then again, she could die on the table or the day after surgery from complications.

It's hard to think everything through when these precious ones are sick and you're in the middle of it; so I'll TRY to help guide you through the things I would want to be SURE to consider. Hopefully it will at least help you make wise decisions - you can't always be *right* - only God can do that. So, know right now that if you lose her you did the best you could, okay? Assuming you really will do the best you can, of course :-)  Obviously you love her very much or you wouldn't be writing with your concerns.

The only thing I do know for sure......IF you do decide to take her to surgery - get the best ferret vet you can get to do the surgery...not someone you have even the slightest bit of reservations about as far as their competence. You don't want to be beating yourself up later over that one. I hear real doubts in your vet in your letter, so there's one place I'd make a change, if possible. Here are lists of vets from all over the place. Other ferret owners have recommended them after using them and being impressed by them. That's usually a good way to find a good ferret vet. Hopefully you can find one near you - ALL of these vets specialize in ferrets:

VETS CANADA:   
* http://www.ferretrescue.ca/start.php
* http://tinylink.com/?TlVyYKa6e0
* http://www.ferrets.org/Veterinarian_Listings.htm   (British Columbia)
* http://www.ferretcentral.org/for-others/db-vets.html
* http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/sask_ferrets/

VETS USA:
* http://www.quincyweb.net/quincy/vet.html
* http://ferrethealth.org/vets/
* http://www.ferret-universe.com/vets/vetlist.asp
* http://www.ferretsanctuary.com/vets.shtml
* http://www.ferretcentral.org/for-others/db-vets.html
* http://ferrethealth.org/vets/

At six years of age, if she is otherwise healthy, removal of a spleen can possibly give her new life and several more years with you. Enlarged spleens are not uncommon in ferrets and removal is not all that uncommon either. I do recommend that you have whatever blood tests, ultrasound, or whatever a vet requests done before surgery. Sometimes these tests can reveal a problem that can either say surgery is a good idea because everything else in her little body is operating great, OR it could come back with results saying she has other problems and it might be best to help her to the Rainbow Bridge (put her to sleep and help her out of her pain).

I hope you will give some thought in advance to your visit to the vet in regards to whether you are willing to let him put her to sleep if your little girl is too sick for surgery. I have seen folks refuse to do this, then when the ferret starts into seizures or starts screaming in pain, they panic and wish they had made that decision days or weeks before...but it's too late by then and the ferret dies a horrible tragic, painful death. Of course, none of us know *when* that day is, but sometimes we can see the inevitable after some tests come back with really bad results.  Personally, I would rather put my ferret out of his/her pain too soon rather than risk being too late and watching them suffer on a Saturday night or Sunday afternoon when I can't get ahold of a vet.  It's just something to think about. Here's a great website you might want to have a look at. They have some great poems and especially the Rainbow Bridge poem is excellent. All I really want you to do is keep this as one of your options *in case* the worst happens. I hope and pray along with you that this is not the outcome, but I always believe in hoping for the best and preparing for the worst.

I hope this has given you some things to keep in mind when deciding where to go from here with your little one. The best you can do for her is keep her comfortable, happy and as pain free as possible for as long as you can. Whether it means surgery or not. The most you can do is take one minute at a time. Be sure she is drinking plenty. Continue to make the duck soup and keep it soupy to keep her fluids plentiful. If she starts acting like she's in pain, call the vet and get some pain meds for her (yes, they have pain meds for ferrets and they DO give them all the time, so if your vet won't give them, get to another vet. The goal is to keep her comfortable until a decision can be made whether surgery is or is not an option for your little one.  A trusted vet and some tests (full blood panel at the very least) will give you the answers you seek.

Hang in there - remember to take one moment at a time. It sounds like you're doing things right with the duck soup and all - just keep it up, keep her warm with some extra soft blankies, some extra loving, extra holding and maybe some rocking while you watch TV. They need extra closeness when they are sick, just like children do. I think it sounds like you're a good mom - just keep up the good work, get a new vet and go from there. Please write again and let me know how this comes out? My thoughts and prayers go with you and your precious little girl.

Sincerely,

Jacquie Rodgers