Message Number: YG13585 | New FHL Archives Search
From: Tanya Catterton
Date: 2002-06-05 11:22:00 UTC
Subject: 5 month old male with aplastic anemia

We have a 5-month old ferret named Leo. We got him from
Petco when he was about 7 weeks old and he is a Marshall
ferret. When we brought him home, within a day one of our
other ferrets got ECE and then Leo showed signs also. So he
had a rocky start.

Last week I took him to the vet because he was not as active
as he should be. His red blood cell count was around 13 so he
got a transfusion of 8 mils of blood from our other ferrets.
An x-ray showed a slightly enlarged heart and he has a slight
murmur that has been present since his first vet visit. He
was put on Amoxil, Baytril, Carafate (in case of an ulcer) and
Hi-vite. The blood work showed elevated white cell count and
no immature red blood cells. The following day he went in for
a bone marrow biopsy.

This morning the Dr. called with the results. Leo does not
have cancer, instead the vet said it was aplastic anemia. His
bone marrow is not producing red blood cells, although other
blood cells seem to be generating normally. This afternoon
Leo is going in to get an injection of erythropoietin to
hopefully kick-start his bone marrow. The vet is also going
to try giving him prednisone to slow the breakdown of the
cells.

Leo has some activity, but he does sleep a lot. He isn't
really eating or drinking on his own so he gets fed by hand
three times a day and gets pedialyte from a syringe offered
which he does drink a little of.

I've been reading and I know the outlook for him is not so
good, but we are willing to do just about anything to try to
help him get better. I was also reading about a herbal
mixture called essiac that says it can help stimulate
production of red blood cells. Does anyone have any
experience with this supplement? Just wondering if it would
be worth trying in addition to all the other meds. Any other
advice would be welcome.

Thank you.
Tanya