From:
rumtum99@sympatico.ca
Date: 2001-06-22 10:26:00 UTC
Subject: Mikey's heart - Dr. Williams
Dear Dr. Williams,
I am sorry that I am writing again as I do not want to be a bother.
When I wrote to see if you would have, or know where to obtain the
measurements for a ferret heart I had just stopped home to feed and
medicate my other guys we were only part way through the tests for
Mikey when I wrote. I volunteer at the clinic once a week, so I kind
of get fitted in. My vet had checked on VIM, with a vet at the Animal
Medical Centre among other places. No one seems to know them. When
I got back to the clinic my vet was able to get the
final measurement that he needed. During the ultrasound he did
comment that if it were a cat heart the measurements would be fine.
He did not notice anything else unusual. Nothing looked unusual in
the x-rays either. The EKG was done on Monday by a technician and a
vet student and they were having a problem getting all of the leads
(?), so my vet wanted to do it again, but it had stressed Mikey out
so much on Monday and it was late (we had both been there from 6:30
am to 9:30 pm on Wednesday) that he decided that he would look at the
EKG and analyse it before deciding to redo it. I think that the
technician said that he was only able to get lead 2, so my vet was
did not know how much help it would be. According to the 4th year vet
student there were a few things in the EKG that did not look right,
but I am unsure what was wrong.
Mike Janke kindly provided me with the name of Dr. Burk a radiologist
in Florida. I forwarded his e-mail to my vet clinic yesterday, but
know that my vet is off until Monday. He told me to phone him at
home if I find out anything, but wanted to make sure that I have all
of the information before I do it.
In your original e-mail to me you mentioned about the possibility of
juvenile lymphoma. This is a fear that my vet and I talked about
right at the beginning. I lost Shakespeare to this disease when a
few years old. My vet has checked his lymph nodes, but they appear
normal. However, I know that this does not necessarily mean
anything. Shakespeare's were not enlarged.
Any help that you or anyone else on the list could provide would be
greatly appreciated.
(Just a recap Mikey's heart rate was measured at 170 a week ago
and 150 on Monday. He is a 4 month old ferret)
Thank you so much for your time.
Stephanie