Our Sweet boy has Lymphoma!!!

We took the business to the Vet on Thursday for a wellness exam, they are all getting up there in age so we expected something. Morgan had a bad ear infection over the summer almost lost her to it, Captain has an enlarged spleen (even a non-medical person can feel it)So when the vet said she felt something on Pirate's kidneys we were shocked, we had him since he is 6 weeks old and did everything your supposed to do, right foods, no sweets/veggies, right environment. Ultrasound shows mass tumors on his kidneys and possibly his spleen too. The Dr even said it was the last thing she would have expected based on their overall condition and age. Pirate will be 8 on May 20th and aside from this has never had any health issues. We will NOT put him through the torture of chemo/radiation, I have seen 1st hand what it does to those you love and as humans they can choose to do it or stop, animals can't tell you when they have had enough. We did not do any further tests or procedures yet, we may do so moving forward, still reeling from the shock. We are not sure what to do yet if we want to make him comfortable (meds and supplements)or fight it full force (surgery). At the moment he is on 3 meds for the next 21-30 days then we go back for a follow up, he absolutely HATES THEM! Giving him meds is torture for him and us. We wrap him in a towel (like a lil ferret burrito) scruff him and even mix the meds with some chicken juice and it is as if we were trying to kill him, and it KILLS US to do it! I've been doing some research (with some help THANKS MARIE!) and have come across a few things that I would ask your advice/opinions on. Coconut oil not as a cure but as an aid for digestion, and boost to immune system. Any Thoughts, Insights, Ideas, Experiences? Has anyone ever heard of or used Essiac? Read a few good things, but looking for more input. We are looking for alternatives to just Pred. and the typical meds vets prescribe. We were also considering using Cannabis oils as a treatment for the cancer (brother-in-law uses it as chemo/radiation are no longer an option for him). I would use the High CBD hemp oils and NOT an oil high in THC (THC is the stuff that gets you high, CBDs fight cancer and boost immune system). I have seen an article or 2 about its use in dogs/cats but so far nothing with ferrets. Anyone ever hear about its use or use it with their fuzzy? ANY suggestions, ideas, experiences are welcome and appreciated. Thank you I will be sure to post our findings, treatments and any updates.

I don't have any advice for you but I just wanted to say how sorry I was to hear about Pirate's health troubles. I hope you guys find the best course of action for you guys and for Pirate. Best wishes!

I'm so sorry for the diagnosis of lymphoma. Prednisolone is a good med for this. I have had many lymphoma ferrets and as long as it wasn't the aggressive kind the pred really helped. I have also used Essaic with the lymphoma. I have a friend who runs a shelter that made it up for me. I gave it to 2 of my babies. She is on facebook if you want to contact her. Her name is Daphne Reddy. Tell her Becky Moffitt refered you to her. I'll give her a heads up that you may be contacting her.

 
Fuzzbutts Rule!

Sorry to hear about Pirate.  I've only had one lymphoma case and only used pred.  I never heard of essiac tea until now, but it looks like the web is full of resources and testimonials.  We al know that pred is not a cure and it has side effects.  I hope it works for you and Pirate, because it's inevitable that one of ours will someday get lymphoma.  It would be great to hear a success story from someone we know.

THE DOOKS OF HAZARD

aww, im so sorry to hear that. we lost Mr. Tex to lymphoma last summer, he was diagnosed in January, ped treatment is what got him through to his last days. Best of luck. 

I want to thank you all for you kind words and wishes,it means a lot to us I will relay all the good thoughts/vibes to Pirate when I get home tonight. Pirate is our first born ferret so this is especially hard to take, we have lost or had to put to sleep other pets in the past but for some reason Ferrets steal a piece of your heart and once it is in that Hidey Hole it is theirs FOREVER! We are considering our options as of now and I will post our decision and treatment notes as they come. My Sister is a member of some online forums for cannabis for cancer patients and she has found some members that use it for the pets cancer as well. She is going to send me some posts and info. I will post any valuable info I find, and also the dosages and delivery methods (from what she said many use Coconut oil as the medium to deliver the hemp oil) I did have 1 good thing happen this morning I tried the coconut oil and he LIKED IT no forcing, just ate it off my finger so at least now I may have a medium to administer the other meds. It was such a relief as giving him meds is TORTURE. Scruffed, wrapped in a towel, and being held by me as wife gives meds he is still spitting it out and squirming as if we were trying to kill him. NOT what I want his last days to be like so I am hopeful tonight I can try the oils and get the meds in easier. I am glad I introduced duck soup early on and he likes it cuz now he has stopped eating his kibble, he eats it if it is in the soup but has not touched his food bowl in a while. BUT he will eat the dogs kibble but just the life source bits?!? We normally never let him in the kitchen but while I prepare his meds I leave the baby gate open and he steals a piece runs off to eat it and comes back for seconds. Even through the tears he makes us SMILE!

I sent you a pm with my friend Daphne's email address. She said to contact her if you want to know about the Essaic. I wonder if maybe he's not eating his kibble because he has decided he likes the dog's food better. 

 
Fuzzbutts Rule!

We noticed he wasn't eating as much before we took him to the vet, so he didn't have access to the dogs bowl. Only reason he does now is I am prepping meds in kitchen with the gate open and he is stealing just Life Source Bits. He was piling kibble in a corner of his cage under his water bowl for weeks. Though he was just picking out the tastier pieces, and stashing the rest out of the way. Now that he is getting soup 2X a day and lots of treats (freeze dried raw bits) I haven't seen a single piece of kibble in the corner and we have not re-filled his kibble bowl in days

Larry was my one lymphoma case.  It never affected his appetite or eating habits at all.  I only suspected it because his belly was so big.  He was bloated when I got him.  Even his blood work was normal until late.  Pred was the only treatment available.  I do hope that other options work for you.

THE DOOKS OF HAZARD

Is coconut oil harmful to ferrets? It is a saturated fat but it doesn't come from an animal, there is no carbs , and it's health properties are amazing, I swear by the stuff. I would really like to know, because if it is beneficial, I would love to give it to my fuzzies, of course I understand a lymphoma case is different, and we are just trying to ease the pain and final days for a poor sick fuzzie. I am really curious to know how it affects a healthy ferret, and olive oil as well. 

The beneficial uses are supposed to be the same for us and ferrets. That is what the claims are. 
It is plant based, so I understand the concern, BUT there are NO carbs, NO sugar (at least in the one I use, cold pressed organic virgin coconut oil) so that is a plus.
As with a lot ferret remedies/supplements there are no real clinical trials to consult so it is just what us ferrants have used/seen.
I use it for its digestive aid, reduction in tumor and as a medium to give him the cannabis oil, cannabis oils are potent and giving a ferret sized does is hard to measure (a human uses a dose the size of a grain or rice 2X/day, so how small would a dose for a 3lb ferret be?). His mixture is 40 to 1, 40 parts coconut 1 part cannabis, mixed entire batch and give tiny doses 2 or more times a day.   

Update
So the resistance to taking his meds has gotten worse. Now he sees the syringe and bugs out.
Predinosolome 1ml, Clavamox .3ml & Metronidazole .4ml all 2X a day 
He has stopped taking treats, ferret-tone, and petromalt (all things we would use to bribe him and get the nasty taste out of his mouth).
He has also stopped eating his kibble, and will only eat soup (with some coaxing)
He fights like the devil when we give meds so I know he isn't too weak, and he does play for a bit when he is out. but still very concerned with his food intake. 
Because of the amount of stress it causes him and my wife (she is in tears come med time) we stopped the 2X a day and only dose him 1X since Saturday.
Spoke to vet she was going to look into gels and/or transdermal as the liquid is not working for him at all. 
We started the coconut and cannabis oils on Friday (Cold pressed organic virgin coconut oil, Cannabis oil 1 to 1 ratio CBD to THC) We mix the oils together in a 40 to 1 ratio (40 coconut to 1 cannabis). He doesn't like the taste much so we put a tiny drop on our fingertip and wipe it on his lip so he licks it off. I am hoping it gives him the munchies and he starts eating his kibble again. My sister is in a cannabis/cancer group on-line for brother-in-law and found a cannabis for animals group I am using their recommendations for dosing, and yes the have and are treating ferrets not just dogs/cats) 
Have not gotten the Essaic yet and will wait cuz I am not going to introduce another med until we figure out how to give what we have so far. 
I just don't get it Captain and Morgan both just took their meds when needed, all we had to do was scruff and squeeze the syringe, Pirate is spitting it out, squirming out of the towel, putting his paw in his mouth to wipe it out, and even using his back legs to push our hands away, this is all while scruffed mind you. 

Really sorry to hear that, our prayers go out to you and your fuzzie.

from my experience, no one likes metro.  you could try having it compounded with some sort of flavoring.  do a search for compounding pharmacies in you area and ask about it.  

you can try giving the others separate from the metro.  how long is he on metro anyway?  if you're pretty sure it's lymphoma, antibiotics won't help except to prevent secondary infection.

all the research i've done on coconut oil only mentions saturated fats and not sugars.  As for other carbs, the lymphoma is more of a threat than ingestng carbs.  Just do it, I say.  we've never tried giving it to fuzzers, tho.  

what about trying mixing drugs with ferretone or salmon oil?

THE DOOKS OF HAZARD

1st thank to all for your ideas, good thoughts, wishes and prayers we all appreciate it

He is on the metro for 21 days it is already compounded with chicken, HATES IT, Hates ALL the Meds but this is the worst.
We tried mixing with food, won't touch it, tried mixing in chicken broth in the syringe just makes the process longer as now I have to give 1ml or more vs. .4ml
Shortly after we started meds he stopped taking ferret-tone and petromalt altogether 
BUT there is some good news
The Metro can be used as a trans-dermal gel, vet never used it on ferrets b4 so he is a test run of sorts, so .1ml of gel 2x day gets applied to his inner ear (not far in just where there is no fur) He isn't too happy about it (must feel like a massive wet willy) BUT he isn't sticking his paw in his ear trying to pull it out like he does with the oral meds. We started the trans-dermal on Monday

Pred and clavamox can not be given trans-dermal :-( 

Since we only dose oral meds 1X day vs. the recommended dose of 2x he has started eating again. He will not touch certain kibble though, will only eat Evo and 8 in 1 crunchy, and sometimes Wysong Archtype 1, and only little bits at a time, OH he will also steal the dogs life source bits out of their food bowls. He no longer will touch the Natures valley cat w/raw boost, not even the Raw bits treats he used to love. His diet mainly consists of duck soup "Chicken smoothie" as the wife calls it, gonna pick up some baby food and add that to the smoothie to get some extra calories in there

Uncle Joe - we have been using the coconut oils w/ the cannabis oil (40 to 1 ratio) 2x - 4x a day. dosing amount is difficult to measure as it is less than .1ml so we eyeball it about 1mm long and as wide as the tip of a toothpick, it is a tiny dose (adult human dose is about the size of a grain of rice 2x day)  We either put it on his teeth/gums or just stir it in his soup it melts almost instantly, easiest med we give just hoping that the effects of the cannabis oil are the same in ferrets as they are in humans (stimulate appetite, ease stomach upset, enhance immune system kill off tumors, and alleviate pain) I do know he is sleeping a bit more but that I knew was going to happen, and I am sure he is getting a little buzz too. Hey he will be 8 in May and has cancer so a little buzz is the least of our worries. 

Vet update We took Pirate to the vet Thursday 5/28. At the moment all meds have been stopped after about 30+ days or so. Only Medication we are still giving is the Coconut/Cannabis oils mixed with his daily soup or put directly on his gums. His poop, energy level, and eating has all gone back to or closer to normal once all meds were stopped. Vet did a through visual exam (no tests aside from BG level which was normal) and she found that the tumor did not seem to grow or shrink based on her palpation of his abdomen. We all agreed that there was no reason to stress him out for additional tests that would not give us any more vital information. He weighs about the same as he did on his last visit, and since he has gone back to normal since stopping meds Dr. felt confident in her assessment and how we should proceed. We are going back for another follow up in about 2 months unless something changes. Her exact words were "He does not look like an 8yr old ferret with Lymphoma. He could very well pass away from something unrelated to the tumor." SO we are taking the NO NEWS as GOOD NEWS! Considering the situation we will take what we can get!

I guess no news is good news.  Was he on pred?

THE DOOKS OF HAZARD

Hi,
I am new to the group and my 4 yr old male ferret Prickly has adrenal and pancreatic cancer.

He is on SULCRATE and  PREDNISOLONE twice a day, I was wondering how your ferret did on Cannabis treatment and how much did you give to him.   How is he doing?

Thanks

I'm not aware of anyone here that has tried cannibis oil. All I kno is that ferrets are very sensitive to essential oils.  Unfortunately lymphoma is very common in older ferrets.  Pred therapy gives them maybe another year at typically prescribed doses.  It does have serious side effects long term.  Good luck.

THE DOOKS OF HAZARD