From:
dr_bruce_williams
Date: 2002-02-24 21:07:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Neurological problem?
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., "Michael Janke" <mjanke@m...> wrote:
>
Certainly looks neurologic - the two items that are of interestin the
bloodwork is the elevated white count - anything over 10,000
indicates inflammation, and the really low albumin (probably need to
recheck that level.
Inflammation within the skull, such as bacterial meningitis rarely
registers as a very high white count, and this 10,000+ is well within
the realm of possibilities.
You mention some abdominal swelling - if the albumin is truly less
than one (would be really rare - never seen one that low) then the
swelling in the abdomen is probably low-protein ascites. When the
protein in the blood gets extremely low (such as <1.0) the serum
actually migrates out of the blood vessels. In such cases, you will
have swelling all over the body - starting in the abdomen, but also
in the distal extremities, and the underside of the body (due to
gravity).
While edema around the body might explain some of these symptoms (the
brain, with a lack of lymphatics to remove edema fluid, handles any
edema very poorly), I would rerun that albumin first and foremost, to
confirm this very marked abnormality.
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, dVM