An eight month old female spayed ferret was presented to the Cornell University Emergency service for a two week history of diarrhea and lethargy, and acute vomiting. The patient was dehydrated and painful on abdominal palpation but otherwise normal on physical examination. She continued to deteriorate despite supportive care. Given her clinical signs, diagnostic imaging was pursued. Radiographs revealed multiple areas of free gas opacities in the abdomen, and a follow-up abdominal ultrasound demonstrated free gas throughout the abdomen, multiple segments of thickened bowel, and multiple hypoechoic renal and hepatic nodules. On surgical explore, multiple tan circular plaques were visible on the liver and kidneys. The gut had a perforation at the ileocolic junction and a severe ulceration just distal to the pylorus. A resection and anastomosis were performed and samples collected for histopathology. The patient improved in the hospital in the days following surgery; unfortunately, the patient died two weeks after discharge.

The top differential diagnoses at discharge were gastrointestinal lymphoma or ferret systemic coronavirus (FSCV), a ferret-specific virus that can cause a systemic disease similar to the dry form of feline infectious peritonitis. Ferret juvenile lymphoma usually manifests as multicentric disease with a large mediastinal mass. Both diseases carry extremely poor prognoses. The patient’s clinical signs and signalment strongly supported FSCV; however, diagnostic results revealed otherwise. Histopathology supported alimentary lymphoma, and viral testing for ferret coronaviruses was negative.

This presentation will discuss common presentations of juvenile lymphoma and coronavirus in ferrets and the uncommon presentation of this case, as well as diagnostic and potential treatment options for these diseases.