Recently, I experienced just about the scariest thing ever with our boy, Howl. As you may know, he recovered from a very nasty pharyngitis infection this fall. On December 3rd, I noticed a large mass on his chest, and prepared for the worst... It all began with a series of very unfortunate events. After contracting pharyngitis, Howl also got conjunctivitis (vet says from the initial infection) even though none of us in the home are ill. It's been a long recovery process, but he's greatly improved. I discovered a squishy, but firm mass at the base of his throat the afternoon of December 3rd. I immediately ran to check the other ferrets to make sure I wasn't crazy. Nope, definitely not normal. I burst into tears planning for the worst, "This is it" "I knew he was feeling off-" kept cycling through my head. I blamed myself for not getting an X-ray done at his last check up, even though the vet said it wasn't needed and he was on the road to recovery. With the blink of an eye, we began the hour long ride to the best emergency vet in the area. We got lucky, the only vet with ferret experience would be there that night until 8pm. We dropped him off and agonized alone in the car for what felt like forever (thanks, COVID). Eventually, the doctor came out and reassured us that his organs looked great, and he wasn't in any immediate danger. I was frustrated they didn't want to run any tests or aspirate the mass at the very least, but felt comfort knowing he was okay this moment. The vet said it didn't appear to be his neck lymph nodes, but he could faintly feel some swelling on one of his legs (later, we find out this was just fat...) he mentioned it might be related to his thymus. That night Howl only wanted to be spoon fed, and was refusing the bigger pieces of his food. This fueled my worry and thus the 5 hour long research process ensued. I came up with a few possible conclusions:
His symptoms lined up fairly well with lymphoma:
As you can probably guess, we were so helpless at this point. We were praying to God, asking others to pray, and in a very negative headspace. We knew if he was diagnosed with lymphoma it wouldn't be good, and because he's only two, he could technically still get the juvenile version, which is much more aggressive in nature. We had to wait until 4pm the following day to be seen by his usual vet. This doctor is considered the best exotic vet in the entire area, I was very eager to hear what he had to say. I expected to drop him off for an overnight for testing and brought all his things. To our surprise, we were called within 20 minutes of dropping him off. The doctor told us not to worry, it appeared to be just a seroma. But he will be sending the fluid out to a pathologist to ensure no cancer cells can be detected. We were shocked! He went on to say he removed three syringe fulls of fluid from the mass and no tumors or abnormalities could be felt. He also told us the "lymph nodes" we were feeling were just his fat (he does weigh 3.5lbs currently). We waited impatiently for the next few days for the test results. Thankfully, they came back clear. The mass did not contain cancer cells, woohoo! So what the heck is a seroma and why did I not come across it when searching, "lump on ferret's neck"? (To clarify: I know what seromas are, just never occurred to me that's what it could be!) Seroma: Causes & Treatment"A seroma is the buildup of fluids in a place on the body where tissue has been removed. They often occur as a complication of surgery but can also develop after an injury." Because Howl has never undergone any surgery with me, the doctor suspected its from a rough house session with one of his siblings (Tanji, Pazu I'm looking at you...). To my surprise, I couldn't find any information pertaining to seromas in ferrets specifically, hence why I'm writing this. I did find this helpful article by Krista Magnifico DVM, they state: "The body planes (the example here is the abdominal wall and the skin layers) have been separated and the body doesn't like empty or dead space so it tries to 'fill it in' by adding fluid. The result is a collection of fluid between the layers of skin and muscle. It should be 'quiet' or non-painful, soft fluid, without heat or other signs of infection associated with it." One of the ferrets got him so good, the skin separated and created an empty space, triggering the body's natural reaction to "fill it." This is something I've never experienced before even though my ferrets play super rough, making me believe it's quite rare. So don't worry about letting your ferrets play rough together! Treating SeromasSeromas generally reabsorb on their own within a month. The vet did warn us it's possible the vessels were damaged to the point of requiring surgical intervention, but as of now the fluid seems to be slowly going down. You also should be monitoring it for any signs of infection:
There appears to be some controversy as to whether draining the fluid is helpful for the lifespan of the seroma. Many agree that draining it just opens more opportunities for infection, and that if the vessels haven't healed yet, it'll just keep filling back up. Our vet opted to test the fluid to ease our worries (also the placement was putting some pressure on his airways), but as of now we plan to leave the fluid alone until it heals, unless we see any signs of infection. Edit 1/20/2020: We opted with our vet to have the seroma drained a second (and hopefully final!!) time. Due to the placement, it's a bit uncomfortable for him and interferes with normal sleeping and eating. During the attempt, the vet noticed it was no longer filled with serum. After lots of testing he confirmed it to be a hematoma, very similar but instead filled with blood. It should reabsorb eventually and he will be okay. Other Lumps That Resemble SeromasThere are a couple other conditions that resemble seromas that you need to be mindful of as well:
Abscesses being the most common one I see with ferrets, generally in the mouth and throat. When to Vet?I strongly believe you should bring your animals to the vet over any lump. Even if this happened again with my other ferrets, I would bring them in ASAP. While I can recognize the signs of seromas, I will never be certain it's something as minor as that. The symptoms line up dangerously close to that of lymphoma, and lymphoma can develop anywhere in the body, at any age. It's better to be safe than sorry. Let's go over how much this diagnosis cost: Our normal vet charges us ~$80 to see the ferret. This is much more than your normal wellness visit cost. We spent $279 to get the fluid collected and sent for analysis. The day prior, we spent $169 at the emergency vet. Emergency vet bills will generally be much higher, especially for "exotic" species. All the vet did was ensure he was stable, no testing was done at this appointment. In total, we spent $532.40 in two days on Howl. These are bills you need to be prepared for when getting animals, especially ferrets. This total does not include what we had to spend on his pharyngitis diagnosis a month prior. We also need to be prepared for a surgery bill in case his vessels aren't healing properly. These are bills high school students working part time simply can't afford. Please consider this before getting animals. Sure, had I known it was a minor seroma I could've saved near $600, but I didn't know. And it could've been dangerous, I regret none of it. Ferrets Are Exhausting...In conclusion, ferrets are exhausting. After a tiring two days of vet visits and testing, Howl is feeling chipper again. He's eating on his own, and playing hard once again. After everything, I don't regret worrying. I believe that it was very justified, and it really could've been any of the things I assumed it was. Regardless of the outcome, my feelings were valid. That being said, google can be your friend but also your enemy. I'm thankful for the unlimited access to medical findings and information when looking up a condition, but it's also easy to spiral and see only the negative outcomes. It also doesn't change the fact, many ferrets suffer from serious illnesses all over the world. My thoughts and prayers go to everyone experiencing health problems with their fuzzy(s). Unfortunately, due to poor breeding in animal mills along with inadequate treatment by pet parents (poor diet, keeping them in cages all day, no vet care, etc.), many ferrets suffer the same grim fate. I do honestly believe we can have a great impact on the lifespan of domesticated ferrets by paying attention to their overall health & wellness, and acting upon anything that seems abnormal. For information regarding ferret conditions, I really like these sources: https://vetspace.2ndchance.info/ferret-health-articles-table-of-contents/ https://sawneeanimalclinic.com/downloads/ https://ferretassn.org/ https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet
1 Comment
Brooke
4/9/2024 05:50:15 pm
This was a great read and described our Eddie all the way down to the second draining of blood and vet bill totals. A(n) (unfortunate) relief to come across someone who's had similar misfortunes with rough housing ferret siblings and similar diagnosis. Crash (his brother) rough houses a lot and caused the initial abscess that we had drained & tested (non-cancerous
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