From:
Bruce Williams, DVM
Date: 2001-10-21 15:08:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Splenomegaly, is 8 too old for surgery?
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., "Jen & Andre" <jen.andre@i...> wrote:
> Hi, my 8 year old has what I believe to be splenomegaly. I can feel
a lobe that estends down from the bottom of her rib cage (on the
left), to the ilium, across the centre of her belly and all the way
down to nearly her pubic bone. It's a bit hard and seems to be
uncomfortable when I palpate it. In the middle of her belly, her skin
above the mass appears blueish. She has trouble righting herself when
laying on her side. Her circulation seems fine, gums are pink and
pinched skin turns pink again quickly enough. Her heart rate seems
normal (@274 b/m), but wow, was it ever loud compared to the others.
Maybe because of the fact that she has very little body fat, but
maybe due to high blood pressure? She sleeps more than usual and in
my opinion, drinks more than normal lately. This has come on fairly
rapidly, she was perfectly normal 5 months ago, but she came down
with a flu bug that really zapped her. She hasn't been the same
since. She's going in to my exotics vet tomorrow and I would like to
have some input from this list to help me make the best choices with
what my vet will recommend.
>
Dear Jen:
It does sound like a large spleen. If the size of the spleen is
compromising her quality of life, then surgery MAY be appropriate.
You and your vet need to decide whether she is a surgical candiate.
8 is not a young ferret - so you have to carefully weigh the risks.
In most cases, removal of a large spleen will result in improved
quality of life (imagine if you were carrying around a 40 lb spleen),
but she needs to be healthy in all other respects in order to justify
doing a splenectomy at this age.
The loud heartbeat is likely due to good positioning of the bell of
the stethoscope, as well as minimal body fat - high blood pressure
does not result in any audible difference in heart sounds.
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, DVM