From:
luvaweasel@aol.com
Date: 2001-08-02 14:33:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Platelets
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., "Bruce Williams, DVM" <williams@e...>
wrote:
> Learn from mistakes, wherever they come from. I apologize for
being scarce on a weekend, but we lost one of our own this evening,
> following adrenal surgery yesterday (and a relatively famous one,
who was pictured on the cover of the JAVMA last April 15th in a
> watercolor I painted as a lark)
>
> Not a happy story, but one that might be of interest to everyone
else out there.
>
I don't normally post here but I do read the posts every day. First
I want to express my condolences to Dr. Williams on the loss of his
ferret. Since Dr. Williams was gracious and open enough to open this
up to the ferret health forum, for my own education, I have two
questions relating to points Dr. Williams brought up, and a request.
The first questions is that given the state-of-the art ICU unit Dr.
Weiss now has in his hospital how had the decision been reached to
take home the fuzzy 90 minutes post-op. It is my experience after
owning 30+ ferrets and a large number of surgeries, that while in the
past at other hospitals Dr. Weiss has had to allow ferrets to return
home after a full day at the hospital. Now he has the ability to
keep them a full night in the ICU unless it's a minor surgery. I
have found this very beneficial to the recovery of my ferrets,
especially the older and weaker ones who have more trouble
controlling their body temperature.
The second question is since one of the most common symptoms of
insulinoma is lethargy or even a slight decrease in energy, even in a
younger ferret, how was insulinoma ruled out and determined the
ferret had no insulinoma symptoms? And doesn't Dr. Weiss only do
partial pancreatectomies?
As the practicing veterinarian, wouldn't it also be helpful for Dr.
Weiss to post to the list too, both about platelets and any
questions, if he was willing and if it was ok with Dr. Williams and
Dr. Weiss.
Thank you for discussing your loss in such an open way in hopes that
we can all help our ferrets.