From:
Trina
Date: 2001-08-02 20:53:00 UTC
Subject: KitKat's Adrenal Surgery
Hi everyone. I've posted a couple of messages in the past 2
weeks regarding my 5yr old male, KitKat. He went in this
morning for Adrenal Gland Surgery and didn't make it through.
When I went into the office, the vet met with me and proceeded
to explain what happened. He and I would both like to know if
any other vets out there have
encountered a situation like this before -
Apparently it was the right Adrenal, which is not good to
begin with, but this was an unusual situation as the adrenal
was not above the kidney, next to the vena cava as usual,
(forgive me, I'm not a vet and am trying to remember exactly
how my vet explained this), rather, it was under and over to
the other side of the vena cava, invading not only the liver,
but also a major artery below the vena cava. When he finally
detached it from the liver and was able to see the tumor to
remove it, all of a sudden a hidden portion of the tumor that
he could not see due to where it was located, exploded out of
what appeared to be a blood vessel or artery (I'm not sure
exactly which he meant), and they were unable at that point to
stop the bleeding. (Again, this is as I (a non-vet)
understand it to be.) He also stated that the tumor was more
than likely malignant. Apparently he could tell due to the
way it was growing and the nodules on it, and he mentioned
something about weakness of the blood vessels giving another
indication of a malignancy?? I'm not sure I understood that
right. At any rate, I opted not to do a biopsy because at
this point it's not going to help Kitkat, and my vet did not
feel it would help with any medical advancements.
He has been working with ferrets for over 17 yrs and routinely
does this surgery, and has yet to see this particular
situation. If any of you surgeons/vets has any input, I would
be very interested. Also, if any of you would like to speak
more professionally with my vet about what exactly occured,
please email me and I would be happy to put you in touch with
him. Like I said, he is seeking out others who have
encountered anything similar to this as well, and possibly
another approach, if any, so as to avoid another loss.
Thank you for any input you can provide. This is my first
loss and I was not at all prepared for this. Luckily, I have
3 others to come home to - it helps a little bit anyway.
Sincerely,
Missing my Kitty, Trina