From:
"Joel Cohen"
Date: 2003-01-09 15:56:10 UTC
Subject: Hemolyitic Anemia Treatment
To: "Ferret Health List" <ferrethealth@smartgroups.com>
Message-ID: <031701c2b7f9$d5f68d80$0f573a41@HTS>
Back in October 2002, we had a 6 year old albino female come down with sudd=
en severe anemia. A CBC on 10/16 showed an RBC of just 1.6 and Hemoglobin o=
f 3.0 verified with a repeat analysis. The WBC was normal 4.5. She was tran=
sfused and put on a maximum dose of prednisone plus an iron supplement. A m=
arrow sample taken at the time of the transfusion showed no cancer or abnor=
mality.
On 11/16 her RBC was 2.63 and Hemoglobin was 5.5 and WBC had dropped to 3.0=
. She also had a Reticulocytes count of 18.1 showing that she was producing=
red cells. Her spleen was enlarged and a needle aspiration showed that it =
too was producing red blood cells. Her color was yellowish attributed to de=
ad red cells accumulating in her blood. She was put on Imuran at 1mg every =
two days based on her weight of 1 kg.
She seemed to react badly to the Imuran with watery stools and dark orange =
urine plus lethargy.
A blood test on 1/3/03 showed the RBC had increased to 5.0 and Hemoglobin t=
o 9.9, both almost doubled from before the Imuran was started. The WBC stay=
ed low at 3.0. Based on the observed side effects and a discussion with ou=
r Veterinarian, we discontinued the Imuran on 1/5.
Has anyone had experience with Imuran with ferrets? Our Veterinarian sees i=
t only as experimental with ferrets. Are there any suggestions of an altern=
ative immune suppressant to try? Our tendency now is to rely on the prednis=
one. =
Thanks,
Mary & Joel Cohen