From:
Ulrike
Date: 2001-05-26 12:54:00 UTC
Subject: Spleen question
Hello
My Jack has a pretty big spleen I think and I'm really worried. It seems
the spleen is getting bigger and Jack is getting so thin, he's been on the
thin side with a big tummy for a while but now he seems worse. Before the
big tummy seemed to be fat that had collected in the abdomen but now it's
full of spleen. I tried to measure the spleen, when he's asleep and relaxed
I can feel the spleen okay and it seemed 6in x 3in? Is that big? (He is a
big boy, he's 12in long from the base of the tail to the shoulders/
forelegs.) It seems to fill his whole abdomen, starts under the ribs on the
one side and goes down all the way across the tummy. I'm scared. Jack's
had an exploratory about 1 1/2 years ago and didn't do well at all and
nearly died, he recovered after getting a lot of sub Q fluid and anti
inflammatory and antibiotics... Back then the vet noticed there was a lot
of fat in his abdomen whereas the rest of his body was thin.
I took him back to the vets, he had an infection or something, around 104
degrees F temperature so the vet put him on antibiotics. The lymph nodes on
his neck above the shoulders are enlarged. The vet doesn't seem concerned
about the spleen and said they take them out if the animal goes anaemic, if
there's signs that the spleen bleeds. But I've read about spleens getting
friable and/ or cancerous so I really don't know whether to be concerned or
not, I'm just scared, I have this gut feeling that something nasty is going
on. Jack is my most special boy...
Are there blood tests that could help that we should have done? I don't
know what to do, risk surgery and take the spleen out when he didn't even
tolerate an exploratory? Or not do anything and then whatever is going on
is going to get worse and possibly kill him? Do ferrets generally do well
after the removal of the spleen, do they usually get through surgery okay?
How long can they live without a spleen? Can they lead a normal life
without it?
Please help...
From Ulrike
and Jilly, Jack, Bella, Tom, Mason, Baby, Dana, Fox, Reno, Rose, Jasmine,
Spike, Hobo, Gremlin and Bobby
Missing Angel, Hope, Igor and Barney
West Wales Ferret Welfare
E-mail: ferretlove@n...
http://www.ferretlove.freeserve.co.uk
Last update 09/05/01
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