From:
Debbie Utter
Date: 2001-09-19 10:55:00 UTC
Subject: Primary Splenomegaly; have to go back to rule out
insulinoma or ?
I just wanted to share what's going on with my 4yo male, what
today's bloodwork/x-rays show, and seek your opinions on if
there's anything more I can do. In particular, if my vet
seems to know what he's talking about. I'm not looking to
trash my vet - I just hope I've found a vet who can handle the
more serious things with ferrets.
Over the last three or four weeks, Brae would occasionally
vomit. He was eating, drinking, and playing normally, so I
dismissed it. However, a week or so ago I noticed evidence in
the pen (where five ferrets are housed) that someone didn't
make it to the litter box on the bottom floor. This happened
again twice over the next week. I had no idea who was doing
this, but I know it was Brae at least once because his abdomen
was all messy. Last Thursday, I began noticing that Brae was
sleeping a lot more than usual. Within minutes of being let
out of the pen, he would be settled down for a nap. Thursday
night, I saw him hesitate going down the last level of the pen
(it's a nice soft landing to a hammock) and I noticed hind leg
weakness for the first time. He was very wobbly, too. All he
wanted to do was sleep. I put him in a pen by himself Friday
morning so I could monitor his food and water intake and his
toilet habits. Everything seemed to be fine, but he did have
a bout or two of vomiting Friday night. Saturday morning I
took him to the vet. He told me that Brae had an extremely
enlarged spleen, and he thought there might be a mass or tumor
of some sort in there, too. I had to bring him back today so
x-rays and bloodwork could be done to see if there were
indications of insulinoma, Cushing's Disease, or something
else. At the very least, he figured we'd probably have to do
a splenectomy. Last night, Brae vomited probably six times in
a 45-minute period. I got up every two hours to wake him up
and offer him some moistened kibble and pedialyte mix. He
ate/drank very little (I don't think he liked the pedialyte
mixture, even though it's unflavored), but at least he didn't
get sick during the night.
Today's x-rays showed an EXTREMELY large spleen. This thing
is taking up practically the entire abdominal cavity! That's
probably what's causing his discomfort and the vomiting.
Bloodwork doesn't seem to indicate insulinoma yet, but the vet
hasn't ruled that or other things out just yet. Kidneys
looked good. Barium of the intestines looked good. He
prescribed Panmycin Aquadrops which I'm to give him twice a
day for the next ten days to help fight against any infections
that might be starting, even though the blood work didn't
indicate an infection. I was told a lot of stuff and can't
remember most of what the vet said (I'll call them back
tomorrow to get things straight!), but he's hoping the med
buys a bit of time before taking the spleen out. He said it
won't be harmful to Brae to remove it, and he'll be more
comfortable once his insides have more room, but unfortunately
it doesn't necessarily mean there isn't another problem that
just hasn't shown up yet in the bloodwork. I think he plans
to do bloodwork again, either at the time of the surgery, or
at some point after that. The statement shows
"Anesthesia/gas-IPPV." I read somewhere recently that
isoflurane is the only anesthesia that should be used?
Here are the test results. Because I have no idea what most
of this means (he did go over them with me, but this is all so
new to me!), let me know if you see any red flags:
HCT = 37.7%
HGB = 13.1 g/dl
MCHC = 34.7 g/dl
WBC # 6.3 x109 /L
GRANS # 5.1 x109 /L
% GRANS # 81%
L/M # 1.2 x109 /L
% L/M # 19%
PLT # 568 x109 /L
Retics 0.6%
Buffy Coat (3): Lymph/mono layer has not separated distinctly
from the other cell layers, possibly due to inadequate
staining. Confirm differential results with a blood smear.
ALB = 2.79 g/dl
ALKP = 49 U/L
ALT = 28 U/L
AMYL = 41 U/L
BUN = 11.8 mg/dl
Ca = 7.69 mg/dl
CHOL = 140.6 mg/dl
CREA = 0.33 mg/dl
GLU = 124.1 mg/dl
PHOS = 5.63 mg/dl
TBIL < 0.10 mg/dl
TP = 6.74 g/dl
GLOB = 3.95 g/dl
All in all, I've dropped $250 at the vet at two visits, but
Brae still has this huge spleen inside him, is sleeping all
the time, and just isn't doing well. I hope the Panmycin and
removal of the spleen helps, but of course it's too early to
tell. Again, I appreciate any comments if you see any red
flags in the bloodwork or the vet's plan. After I get
confirmation from the vet's office tomorrow, I'll post again
to clarify anything I may have stated incorrectly here today.
Thank you for your time - sorry for the lengthy post!
Debbie