From:
Bruce Williams, DVM
Date: 2001-10-02 12:01:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Enlarged Spleen and Heliobacter
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., teri@l... wrote:
> My vet and I need some information on a couple of things...here
> is the story:
> My nearly two yr old, neutered/descented male ferret had to have
> surgery today...last week, I noticed that he was drool more than
> normal and stumbling and falling down...I first thought of
> insulinoma, so I took him to my vet...The vet is great with all
> animals but is learning about ferrets--especially with my
> four...actually, both doctors at the office looked at Nibble...they
> both agreed that he may have some intestinal blockage, gave
> him an enema and dosed him with a stronger laxative than
> catlax...I wish I could recall the name, but I'm not at home...they
> said that his spleen was a little enlarged, but that his colon was
> hard, too...so, for the next four days, I watched him and hoped
> that he would poop out what was causing the back-up (my
> thought was a piece of foam pillow that one of them tried to
> destroy)...unfortunately, he didn't get better...his belly got
larger
> and he was not very comfortable...I am sure he was in pain...so,
> off to the vet he goes this morning...when the vet opened him, his
> spleen was so large that he had to bring it out in two pieces...he
> said he touched it and it burst...it looked as if it was
> rotting/disentigrating...the vet did tests and found
> heliobacter...What we need to know is the best way to treat this
> problem besides giving Nibble Pepto Bismol...the vet has
> ordered an antibiotic to give the poor fert, but I can't remember
> the name of it...I tried looking in the archives of this list, but
there
> isn't really anything about this particular sickness...any info you
> can give me or any link that points to the info would be very much
> appreciated...
Dear Terri:
While it certainly sounds like this spleen was ready to come out,
there are a couple of pices that don't fit in this story. First, the
stumbling and drooling - many ferrets have huge spleens, but don't
show these signs. Was bloodwork done to assess the blood glucose in
this case?
Another piece that doesn't fit is the test for Helicobacter - what
type of test was it? It sounds as if it was done at the time or
surgery - to my knowledge, available tests for Helicobacter generally
have to be sent off and may take days to weeks to getthem back -
While he probably does have Helicobacter, I generally don't rush to
treat Helicobacter in the perioperative period if it is not
absolutely necessary - ther treatment itself can be stressful, and
most cases of Helicobacter can wait a couple of weeks for the animal
to recover from the stress of surgery. A protocol which calls for
the administration of either flagyl or pepto (if that is your vet's
preference) will add to the stress of the surgery and may result in
gastric ulcers.
BTW - enemas usually don't work in ferrets with blockages.
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, DVM