From:
dadanaima@yahoo.com
Date: 2001-08-16 08:28:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Help with difficult diagnosis; anthracosis? (long post)
Hi again.
Thanks to Danee for her suggestions regarding ADV. I finally got the
tests yesterday and tested. Everyone is negative, including Nutmeg.
Now that we've ruled out ADV, are there any vets out there who might
be able to help with suggestions for diagnosis? Also, can anyone shed
any light on the anthracosis issue?
Thanks,
Ingrid
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., dadanaima@y... wrote:
> My ferret, Nutmeg, has been showing many 'difficult to interpret'
> signs and I would love to have some insight into what is going on
with
> him. Back in March he began be very aggressive towards my 4 yr old
> female. She was showing signs of adrenal problems and has since had
> her second adrenalectomy. It was thought that this aggression
toward
> her could have been the result of her producing excess hormones, but
3
> months post surgery I am still seeing the same behavior.
>
> Nutmeg was also urinating frequently, losing some hair on his hind
> end, and falling to the side a lot when he walked. At this point we
> thought maybe it was insulinoma being masked by adrenal symptoms.
We
> did exploratory surgery (June 21) at this point with a great doctor.
> His fasting glucose prior to surgery was 150, which rules out
> insulinoma. The doctor found no signs of adrenal tumor or
insulinoma.
> He had an enlarged spleen which reacted well (apparently lifted
from
> the body to see if blood returned to the body?). During surgery the
> vet found growths on his lymph nodes and the largest one (in his
neck)
> was sent for biopsy. The biopsy came back with negative results for
> malignancy but the report stated that they found a dark spot which
was
> likely due to anthracosis. It is my understanding that anthracosis
is
> carbon trapped in the cells and is commonly due to smoke inhalation
> (in humans anyhow). What could cause this in ferrets (who have
lived
> their whole lives in a smoke-free house)? And is it harmful?
>
> Since the exploratory, he has been urinating even more. Sometimes I
> can't believe that so much liquid could be stored inside one little
> body. He's also drinking a lot. He has frequent diarreah
(sometimes
> explosive). He still has the 'drunk walk' and seems to fall to his
> right side when standing still. He's been more lethargic than
usual,
> he no longer sleeps with my other two ferrets, and he sometimes
> wimpers when he's picked up. He also has some raw spots on his skin
> which look like either a) he scratches himself raw or b) he is itchy
> in these areas because of the spots. He'll be 5 yrs old in October,
> had ECE about 2 1/2 yrs ago, and seems to always have LOTS more wax
in
> his ears than the others. Other than that, he's been very healthy
and
> hasn't even experienced any weight loss.
>
> My vet did a CBC, chemistry and urinalysis (July 31). Here are the
> results:
> ALB 3.79 g/dl (2.60 - 3.80)
> ALKP 35 U/L (9 - 84)
> ALT 195 U/L (82 - 289)
> AMYL 50 U/L
> BUN 16.8 mg/dl (10.0 - 45.0)
> Ca 8.95 mg/dl (8.00 - 11.80)
> CHOL 125.4 mg/dl (64.0 - 296.0)
> CREA 0.23 mg/dl (0.40 - 0.90)
> GLU 133.7 mg/dl (94.0 - 207.0)
> PHOS 6.23 mg/dl (4.80 - 8.90)
> TBIL 1.47 mg/dl (0.10 - 1.00)
> TP 8.20 g/dl (5.20 - 7.30)
> GLOB 4.41 g/dl (1.80 - 3.10)
> Na 157.3 mmol/l(139.0 - 169.0)
> K 5.45 mmol/l(4.60 - 7.60)
> Cl 117.2 mmol/l(106.0 - 125.0)
>
> HCT 53.7 %
> HGB 18.1 g/dl
> MCHC 33.7 g/dl
> WBC 6.2 x10^9/L
> GRANS 3.6 x10^9/L
> %GRANS 58 %
> L/M 2.6 x10^9/L
> %L/M 42 %
> PLT 769 x10^9/L
> Retics 0.6 %
>
> Urinalysis:
> pH 6 protein 1+
> sp:gr 1.035
> 20-30 WBC
> 5-10 bl. epi cells
>
> Due to the WBC in urine, he's on Baytril (1/2 of a 22.7 mg tablet
> every 12 hours) for possible bladder infection. I haven't seen any
> improvement in 10 days on meds. She also prescribed Etiderm (twice
> weekly) to hopefully help with the skin problem.
>
> I have a really wonderful vet, but we're both stumped. Any insight
> would be greatly appreciated. Sorry for the long post.
>
> Thanks for your help,
> Ingrid