From:
Karen Purcell, DVM
Date: 2001-03-06 11:03:00 UTC
Subject: Re: [Ferret-Health-list] Re: Strange postsurgical reaction
redu
Brett,
>
> How soon post-op did these reactions begin? Would the 48-hour lead
> time I experienced be unusual, based on your observations?
>
24-48 hours had been my experience in the past.
> > Are you sure nothing different was used medically/anesthestically
> > with the superficial surgeries, as opposed to the abdominal
> > procedures?
>
> The general anesthetic was isoflurane in all cases, including two trach
> washes and several radiology/ultrasound sessions. I don't know what
> other tranquilizers, sedatives, induction agents or analgesics may have
> been used for the abdominal surgery vs. superficial surgeries vs. non-
> surgical procedures. (I wonder if I can talk my vet into joining this
> list? B-)
>
Some tranquilizers can have an excitatory effect, but it is
normally immediate, not delayed.
> After the bilateral adrenalectomy, Pogey was put on predisone and
> Florinef, and she was still on low dosages of these at the times of the
> superficial surgeries: 1.75 mg pred every 48 h. and .025 mg Florinef
> every 48 h. After the second surgery she was also getting 35 mg TMS
> every 12 h. (because of a high WBC -- some unidentified chronic
> infection that we'd been trying to kill since March 2000) and 22 mg
> aspirin every 24 h. (as an anti-inflammatory to try to relieve the
> breathing difficulty she'd been having over the past couple of months).
>
> I guess my main concern isn't so much the cause of these episodes
> (though I'd really like to know!), but what the appropriate response
> would have been. In hindsight, it strikes me that letting Pogey run
> out her store of reserves might not have been the wisest choice.
> Perhaps a period of sedation would have left her better able to fight
> back to health after the causative agent was out of her system. (Of
> course, that's presuming we knew enough to pick a sedative that
> wouldn't duplicate or reinforce the cause.)
>
Well, if not sedation, a padded cage!
> I imagine this is rare enough that I might never see it again, but I'd
> still like to learn from the experience, just in case.
Please let me know if you get any more info on this, it's certainly
something I will watch for.
-Dr. Karen
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