From:
Bruce Williams, DVM
Date: 2001-03-07 18:12:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Sundance's blood test results....can anyone make sense
of these....
Dear Tracy:
I'm agreeing with Ben on this one - there is nothing of major
significance.
However, there is an indication of chronic inflammatory disease here,
likely in the GI tract. This is a common finding in middle aged and
older ferrets.
For those who are interested, there is a triad of signs here that all
point to GI inflammation - splenomegaly (the ferret's stereotypical
response to chronic inflammation - and usually in the GI tract), a
low albumin (albumin decreases are most commonly seen as a result of
loss in either the GIT or the kidney, and mild GIT inflammation is
the most common cause) and an inverted neutrophil:lymphocyte ratio -
elevated lymphocytes are a hallmark of inflammatory disease.) While
rarely you can see elevated lymphocytes as a sign f neoplasia (as we
have unfortunately seen with Kif just today), but seeing that the WBC
is within normal limits, I think we can easily ascribe it to chronic
inflammation.)
Of course without a biopsy, it is difficult to confirm chronic
inflammation of the bowel in ferrets, and of course, we can't
identify the cause.
I see this extremely commonly, and I generally don't recommend biopsy
until the values are much farther off the beaten track.
With kindest regards,
Bruce H. Williams, DVM, DACVP
Join the Ferret Health List at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Ferret-
Health-list
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., "Ryan and Tracy Lant" <lant@a...>
wrote:
> Thank you Dr. Williams:
>
> I had taken Sundance in for her Rabies test, but asked for an exam
first
> because I felt there wasn't something right with her. Nothing I
could put
> my finger on, just a gut feeling. She is still eating, drinking,
and
> pooping fine.
>
> I got Sundance back in November, she is 3 years old, from a pet
shop who
> had taken her back from someone who bought their first ferrets
there. She
> was a bad biter. I trained her to be loving, she learned to play
and what
> being a ferret is. When I got her she would play about 10-15
minutes before
> getting tired. She got up to about 1.5 hours of play time before
tiring
> out....but is back down to about 25 minutes now. So I worried
about that.
>
> She came to me weighing 1.5 pounds, got her up to almost 2 pounds
by Jan
> 13....but was back down to 1.5 on March 2.
>
> She just seems limp, lethargic, weight loss, and she has started to
bite
> again. She also has a look in her eye....not spacey or staring off
into
> space, but a look that just says I don't feel well...if you know
what I
> mean.
>
> At the exam, my vet said her spleen was enlarged. So we did the
blood work.
> Hope that helps.
>
> Tracy
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Bruce Williams, DVM" <williams@e...>
> To: <Ferret-Health-list@y...>
> Sent: Wednesday, March 07, 2001 7:10 AM
> Subject: [Ferret-Health-list] Re: Sundance's blood test
results....can
> anyone make sense of these....
>
>
> > Tracy -
> >
> > Before trying to interpret results - can you refresh our
collective
> > memory as to why the blood was drawn. Bllod values are best
> > interpreted in light of the clinical history and symptoms of the
> > patient.
> >
> >
> >
> > With kindest regards,
> >
> > Bruce Williams, DVM, DACVP
> > Join the Ferret Health List:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Ferret-
> > Health-list
> >
> >
> > --- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., "Ryan and Tracy Lant" <lant@a...>
> > wrote:
> > > Test Procedures Results
> > High/Low Reference Range Unit
> > > Alk Phosphatase
> > 24 14-
> > 144 IU/L
> > > ALT (SGPT)
> > 105 119
> > (mean) IU/L
> > > AST (SGOT)
> > 96 46-
> > 118 IU/L
> > > CK
> > 1542 (H) 98-
> > 564 IU/L
> > > GGT
> > 3 5
> > (mean) IU/L
> > > ALBUMIN 3.0
> > (L) 3.4-4.8 g/dL
> > > TOTAL PROTEIN
> > 5.1 4.3-
> > 6.0 g/dL
> > > GLOBULIN
> > 2.1 0.2-
> > 2.4 g/dL
> > > TOTAL BILIRUBIN
> > 0.0 0.0-
> > 0.9 mg/dL
> > > BUN
> > 27 10-
> > 45 mg/dL
> > > CREATININE
> > 0.6 0.4-
> > 0.9 mg/dL
> > > CHOLESTEROL
> > 126 96-
> > 249 mg/dL
> > > GLUCOSE 81
> > (L) 120-144 mg/dL
> > > CALCIUM 7.5
> > (L) 7.6-9.6 mg/dL
> > > PHOSPHORUS
> > 5.7 3.2-
> > 9.5 mg/dL
> > > POTASSIUM
> > 5.1 3.9-
> > 5.5 mEq/L
> > > SODIUM
> > 147 128-
> > 158 mEq/L
> > > A/G RATIO 1.4
> > >
> > > CBC COMPREHENSIVE
> > >
> > > WBC
> > 4.1 3.5-
> > 7.0 THOUS./uL
> > > RBC
> > 11.10 6.7-
> > 12.1 MILLION/uL
> > > HGB
> > 17.9 12-
> > 18 g/dL
> > > HCT
> > 52.7 43-
> > 55 %
> > > MCV
> > 47
> > fL
> > > MCH
> > 16.1
> > pg
> > > MCHC
> > 34.0
> > g/dL
> > > NEUTROPHIL SEG
> > 37 31-
> > 57 %
> > > LYMPHOCYTES 51
> > (H) 22-48 %
> > > MONOCYTES 3
> > (H) 0-1 %
> > > EOSINOPHIL 7
> > (H) 0-1 %
> > > BASOPHIL 2
> > (H) 0-1 %
> > > PLATELETS aDEQUATE
> > >
> > > REMARKS:PLATELET CLUMPS ARE PRESENT. PLATELET ESTIMATE MAY BE
> > AFFECTED
> > >
> > > TEST PROCEDURES
> > >
> > > ABSOLUTE NEUTROPHIL SEG 1517
> > > ABSOLUTE LYMPHOCYTE 2091
> > > ABSOLUTE MONOCYTE 123
> > > ABSOLUTE EOSINOPHIL 287
> > > ABSOLUTE BASOPHIL 82
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Sundance had fasted for about 5-6 hours on this test....and was
> > extremely stressed out over giving blood. It took them 5 pulls to
> > get enough to test as she kept knocking the needle out of the
vein.
> > >
> > > Today she went for another glucose test....fasted for about 3
> > hours. It was 96.2.
> > >
> > > The vet would like her to come back for another test in a month
to
> > recheck it again as it is in the low normal range.
> > >
> > > What else does anyone see in this test....I can't make anything
of
> > it. She was worried about the CK level but said that could have
been
> > due to the stress she was under when she gave the blood.
> > >
> > > I would love to hear what others think.
> > >
> > > Tracy
> >
> >
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> >
> >
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