Message Number: YG14191 | New FHL Archives Search
From: daneedv@aol.com
Date: 2002-06-25 18:42:00 UTC
Subject: Mosby is chasing rainbows - but leaves behind a lot of
questions

It is with a heavy heart that I report that this morning I had to help my
Mosby across the Bridge. While the vet agreed that it was the best choice
for Mo, we are left with many questions about what happened.

I had posted a few days ago about my concerns with Mo's scheduled insulinoma
surgery. He did not seem to be responding to pred, and so my concern was
that there was something more going on.

He continued to grow worse on the weekend, in terms of his ability to get
around. However, he remained alert, and while he had stopped eating his
kibble, he was always glad to eat the baby food I was giving him.

Monday morning, the plan was that I would feed him a little before leaving
for the vet's office. It is a 45 minute drive down, and when I arrived, they
were going to run a blood glucose test to see if he needed to be given a
glucose IV.

The tests that were run surprised both me and my vet - he had a BG of over
350. Other tests were run as well, and while some values were off a little,
nothing really concerned my vet. I will post those results at the end of
this. A urine sample was obtained and checked, and there was glucose in the
urine as well. Because we had a low BG level only a week before, my vet was
hesitant to give insulin without additional monitoring. He checked Mo
thoroughly, and found him to be in seemingly good condition otherwise, and
sent both of us home. I was to monitor his urine for the next 48 hours for
glucose, and discontinue the pred.

We went home, and I fed Mo more baby food and put him in his cage to rest.
He was alert at that time. Several hours later, when I went to feed him
again, he was less alert, and so I started watching him closely. Over the
next few hours he went downhill, and finally around 6:00 pm I called and made
arrangements to see my vet on an emergency basis.

When we got there, Mo was actually perking up, but had a fever of 105.9. We
lowered the fever with cool soaking baths, and decided to run more blood
tests. His glucose was down to 142 this time. A urine sample was also
checked, and no glucose was found. Blood was also taken to send out to the
lab for tests, including a check of the insulin level. However, since the
pickup had already occurred, it was to go out today.

My vet felt the current stupor was due to the fever, and Mo did perk up and
was able to stand and walk after we had his temp back down. He was given a
shot of Baytril, and we went home with several syringes with Baytril, to be
given today and tomorrow. My vet gave me his home number, and told me to
call with any problems, but that if the fever reoccurred, to give more cool
baths. He warned me he would be off today, but said he planned to come into
the office at some point, and would check in with me if I hadn't called him.

Soon after we got home, the fever started back up, and I spent most of the
night trying to keep it down. By this morning it was obvious Mo was ready to
leave, as he was refusing all food. His breathing was very shallow and
rapid, and when I tried to move him, he would cry like he was in pain.

Fortunately, one of my vet's associates was willing to help me, and so this
morning Mo made one last trip down to the vet.
I had them remove most of Mo's organs, and put them in fixative, with the
hope that through pathology we will find some answers.
The vet who performed the necropsy reported that he did not find anything
remarkable when he opened Mo, but he added that he does not treat ferrets,
and has only a slight textbook knowledge of what thing should look like.
Also, many thing are not obvious to the naked eye. He did feel that Mo was
dying, though, based on his observations of Mo's breathing and heart rate.
Here is what I do know.
Mo had x-rays yesterday morning, and his heart and lungs looked in good
condition. His only symptoms until yesterday afternoon were a lack of
coordination, and a sometimes drunken appearance - which could be either too
low or too high a blood glucose level. His blood glucose level was high in
the morning, but had dropped into a normal range by last evening. Yesterday
afternoon he spiked a high fever, which we could lower temporarily with cool
baths, but it would come right back, and he did not respond to the Baytril.
Over the past week, his feces had been soft, and beige to brown in color,
however, since he was eating only baby food, that was not unexpected. This
morning his feces were solid, and were a battleship gray color. They also
had an unusual odor, which I can't explain, but it was unlike any ferret poop
I have ever smelled. The blood drawn yesterday morning looked normal. But
the blood that was drawn last night was odd. When it was spun down, the
serum, which is usually clear with maybe a little pink, looked like milk.
Both the tech and my vet were puzzled by this. (BTW, since there was no
reason to send it out today, I retrieved it, and have it in my refrigerator,
if anyone can think of a test that should be run on it).
Here are the blood test results from yesterday morning.

ALB 2.31 g/dl
ALKP 130 U/L
ALT 238 U/L
AMYL 28 U/L
BUN 22.3 mg/dl
CHOL 239.3 mg/dl
CREA 1.62 mg/dl
PHOS 4.06 mg/dl
TBIL 0.10 mg/dl
TP 5.79 g/dl
GLOB 3.49 g/dl

HCT 28.4%
HGB 10.1 g/dl
MCHC 35.6 g/dl
WBC 7.3 x 10(9)/L
GRANS 3.3 x 10(9)/L
%GRANS 45%
L/M 4.0 x 10(9)/L
%L/M 55%
PLT 47 x 10(9)/L
Retics 1.7%

My vet commented that one of the kidney enzymes was off, but he checked the
specific gravity of the urine, and it was 1028, so he felt that he was not
having kidney failure, although kidney function might be impaired.

I will post out when we have pathology results. In the meantime, if anyone
has any thoughts on what might have happened, I would appreciate hearing
them.

Tonight there is an empty hammock hanging in my heart.

Danee
ADV - If your ferret hasn't been tested, you don't know!
For more information visit http://www.geocities.com/russiansmom