From:
Melissa Litwicki
Date: 2001-10-25 08:35:00 UTC
Subject: Need vet advice: re: elevated red blood cell count
Hello,
I sent mail a few days ago but am still looking for answers. I just took
my spayed 5 yr old female ferret to the vet for her annual checkup. The
physical exam showed her to be in excellent health; no problems except for
a very slightly enlarged spleen. However, the results of the lab bloodwork
came back as follows:
- excessively high red blood cell count
- 72% of red blood cells vs serum (normal values in the 50% range?)
in a centrifuge test to separate sells from serum
- 15,000 cells per microliter in the count of number of red blood
cells per field on the slide (normal 6k-11k/microliter?)
My vet has never seen this in ferrets before and speculated that it could
be caused by cancer; she didn't think her spleen was enlarged enough to
account for the test results. This ferret eats a combination of quality
dry kibble with some freeze-dried meat product and raw chicken diet thrown
in in small amounts. She has regular hairball problems, vomits them up
once every few months, and vomits partially digested food every so often.
Otherwise, she is active, playful, and alert.
What could account for the blood test results above? My vet is
investigating treatment options but I'd like to give her some other
opinions in case she comes up empty-handed.
Thanks,
Melissa