From:
Marie Bartholdsson
Date: 2002-04-04 13:40:00 UTC
Subject: comments from vets please
Not long ago one of my ferrets died. I recently received the test results
from the pathologist. Could any of the vets please comment on this, what
could have caused the illness?
The ferret, Mingo, was a breeding hob and he was 4 years and 10 months when
he died. Until 6 days before his death he had been apparently healthy, no
medical problems at all. He was in good physical shape (actually a lot
fitter than many of my other ferrets) and was eating and drinking normally
with normal stools and urine.
He was kept on a natural diet consisting of raw meat and bones, organs and
whole carcasses (I have successfully kept ferrets on this diet for a long
time so his illness is not likely to be diet related).
The first symptom in the evening March 14 was that he didnt seem quite
himself, a little tired and withdrawn and poor appetite. The following
morning he improved and ate with good appetite. But in the evening he
suddenly lost some control over his hind legs and had difficulties walking.
Because it was weekend no vet nearby was available. During the Saturday and
Sunday he would sometimes seem nearly totally paralysed only to be able to
walk almost normally just a few moments later. He continued to eat with good
appetite and there was no change in stools or urine until late Sunday night
when he passed a small amount of fresh blood. After that he stopped eating.
During the night he had normal stools mixed with small amounts of fresh
blood.
Monday morning we went to the vet. His symptoms were his wobbly hind legs,
fever, the bloody stools during the night, and an enlarged right testicle.
He also wasnt eating since the blood in the stools began and he was tired
with increased respiration and heart rate. An enlarged spleen was palpable.
The vet had no clue what it might be. She first suspected a back injury, and
then a testicle inflammation because of the enlarged testis. X-rays of the
spine and abdomen looked normal.
Mingo was put on an antibiotic and sent home to wait and see if his
condition would improve.
During the day (Monday) he actually did improve a bit and ate a small meal.
But late at night he got much worse and there was no normal stools anymore,
only fresh blood and he was bleeding so much I thought he would bleed to
death. Despite his terrible condition he didnt seem to be in any discomfort
or pain, he even ate a little only 30 minutes before he died. In the end
there was a small but noticeable swelling of the abdomen. And then he died.
The necropsy revealed a small amount of fluid and stools in the abdomen
apparently caused by a ruptured bowel.
The whole abdomen was severely inflamed and the only organ seemingly not
affected was the liver which looked perfectly healthy.
The small intestine had ruptured about 25-30 cm from the rectum. The
ruptured section looked diseased, it was distended, transparent and all the
internal lining of the intestine seemed to have been lost.
The spleen was about 12 cm in length and weighed 24 g. It looked inflamed
and diseased with necrotic sections.
Left kidney was enlarged (3.9 x 2.2 cm, 8 g) and there seemed to have been
hemorrhaging within the tissue. Right kidney was normal size (3.2 x 1.8 cm,
4 g) but had a small area with hemorrhaging.
The stomach showed small circular gastric ulcers.
Right testis was enlarged.
Only tissue from the apparently affected organs was submitted to the
pathologist for testing:
Kidneys, stomach, spleen, testicles, pancreas and the affected portion of
the intestines.
I have tried to translate the test results from Swedish to, hopefully,
fairly correct English:
"SPLEEN: Severe extramedullary hemopoiesis with widespread necrosis and
hemorrhagic infarct with spleen rupture and demarcation of neutrophilic
granulocytes.
KIDNEY: Multiple hemorrhagic infarct with widespread necrosis and
hemorrhaging and demarcation of granulocytes.
PANCREAS: Severe necrotising pancreatitis with pronounced steatitis,
accessory nodules of spleen tissue in the fat tissue.
INTESTINE: Infarction of sections of the small intestine with total necrosis
of the mucosa and ruptured intestine. Presence of thrombosis and
hemorrhaging. Severe inflammation with massive infiltration of predominantly
lymphocytes in the submucosa in the connecting sections of duodenum.
STOMACH: Severe chronic ulcerating erosive gastritis with massive
infiltration of lymphocytes in the mucosa and submucosa.
TESTIS: (right) Widespread necrosis in one section probably infarction with
severe purulent inflammation. Chronic orchitis with some granulation. Left
testis normal.
SUMMARY: Extramedullary hemopoiesis in the spleen and multiple infarctions
in spleen and kidney. Necrotising pancreatitis and steatitis. Infarction of
small intestine. Ulcerous gastritis.
COMMENT: Severe changes in several organs probably associated with a
coagulation disorder with infarction, and possibly associated with bone
marrow disorder. The submitted material have been searched for tumour cells
but none were found."
Marie
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