From:
Christine Bertch
Date: 2001-07-03 23:46:00 UTC
Subject: Vets please advise:Epogen protocol/Benji update
Hi all,
Thank you to those responding to my question about Benji's mouth
sore. I did take him in on Sunday (I noticed the sore on Friday evening) to
have the sore cauterized. I have not seen any bleeding from the mouth or in
his stools since then.
My question is now that, for the past couple of days, he has been
weaker, sleeping more and has not eaten as well as usual. A PCV was taken
Saturday and shown to be 44, from what I read the low end of normal. A PCV
was taken today and it was about 30. My vet also determined the anemia to
be fairly non-regenerative at this time. My question to the vets (or anyone
with knowledge of anemia) is can this change over time--for instance since
it has only been a couple of days since the blood loss stopped, are the
blood cells just slowly regenerating or will they regenerate at all? Next,
my vet suggested I use Epogen, since I already have some on hand. The dose
he gave me was .2ml/week. I did some reading in the archives and everything
I read indicated that the ferrets were getting this in 3 SQ injections, not
all at once. Is there a specific reason for this protocol? And considering
that this anemic episode arose from an injury rather than a chronic
condition, does that change anything? Again, Benji is around 8 years old,
has had borderline insulinoma for a little over 2 years now (taking .35cc of
Pred BID), and also is on Lupron for his adrenal disease.
Thanks for any advice you might have!!