From:
dr_bruce_williams
Date: 2002-02-19 21:23:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Bloodwork before adrenal surgery
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., Julie Fossa <julie_fossa@y...> wrote:
>
> What I'm seeing, again, is frequent yet dinimished
> urine output, bilirubin in urine, no weight loss
> despite the appearance of it, very slight thinning of
> undercoat, flaking skin, and a pinhead sized 'red'
> spot on skin (hip area). Bandit had the exact same
> signs, except I don't remember the flaking.
>
> Bloodwork has been done, and his platelet count is a
> bit low. 190 x1000/ul. Range in Dr. Karen's book is
> 300-750. I am wondering if this is low enough to
> cause dangerous bleeding (Bandit's was only 21).
>
>
> So, my question is: Does anyone feel the Platelet
> count is low enough to cause Buttons to experience
> excessive bleeding? What about Vitamin K?
Dear Julie - The platelets are a little low, but not low that they
should cause a problem. The majority of the bleeding cases I have
seen are when the platelets are lower than 100,000 - but let's not
put it off any longer.
Vitamin K will only help with deficiency of the clotting cascade -
the non-platelet factors that circulate in the blood - Vitamin K is a
cofactor in this process....
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, DVM