From:
"Lin"
Date: 2003-04-18 05:11:24 UTC
Subject: 2nd Request for Help - Kidney - Dr Williams?
To: <ferrethealth@smartgroups.com>
Message-ID: <001001c30568$f5a9f600$2602a8c0@woh.rr.com>
Hi:
I posted about a wk or so ago, & got no responses that *I* saw, so I though=
t I'd try again.
I am worried about my Ariel, to the point where I'm sitting here crying rig=
ht now.
Ariel will be 3 yrs old on 20 Apr. I got her from a private breeder at the =
age of 10 wks, & had her spayed at the age of about 9 mos. She has her scen=
t glands, & is up to date on all vaccinations. In Dec '01, she had her left=
adrenal removed (it was about 3X the normal size, but did not show any mal=
ignancies on the biopsy).
Ariel had exploritory surgery 3 wks ago, as she'd been experiencing signs o=
f discomfort (huddling in front of her cage shivering on & off, not wanting=
to play w/ my other 2 fuzzies). Our vet (who is ferret-knowledgable) found=
, during the exploritory, that her right kidney was about 2.5X the size of =
her left one. He took samples from 3 places & sent them out for analysis - =
which came back saying that they were normal ferret kidney cells. The appre=
arance of the kidney was normal in every other way - shape, color, feel, bl=
ood supply, etc - just bigger than the left one (which also looked complete=
ly normal - no sample was taken, however). He looked at everything else whi=
le in there - right adrenal, pancreas, etc - & everything looked perfect. H=
er stitches were removed on Wed of this wk.
The only other thing the vet noticed was what *felt* like a very small calc=
ification in her spleen, which he explained could have been left over from =
a bruise or something. He didn't think it was anything to worry about. Her =
spleen felt to be of normal size.
Ariel is eating, drinking, peeing, & pooping just fine, as far as I can tel=
l (she's in a cage w/2 other fuzzies, but when I had her in the small hospi=
tal cage for several days after surgery, she was doing all those things nor=
mally).
She's become even *more* lethargic over the past couple days, hardly playin=
g at all. She even turned down duck soup. My vet had told me on Wed to give=
her 1/2 a baby asprin once a day until next Wed, to see how she did, & if =
there was no improvement, he'd do another ultrasound. She will *not* take t=
he asprin, no matter how I try to give it to her - in her soup, mixed w/ Fe=
rreTone, mixed w/ Pedialyte, water, or any combination of the above.
I'm afraid to wait to find out what's wrong w/ her. She looks skinnier & sk=
innier every day (& her top weight was only about 1 lb 4 oz - she's under a=
lb now), more & more uncomfortable, sleeping more, & she just is *nothing*=
like her old self - at only the age of 3 yrs! I am scared to death, as Ari=
el is my very best friend in the world. I feel totally helpless, & nobody i=
s giving me any ideas or answers. I'm afraid she'll just waste away before =
I can do anything for her.
My questions are: What could make one kidney bigger than the other, althoug=
h it's normal is shape, feel, etc, & the biopsy came back normal? Could thi=
s be making her so uncomfortable? What about that calcification in the sple=
en? Is this something to be worried about? Are there any other tests that c=
ould be done? What is happening to my baby?
Dr Williams or *someone* - please give me some idea what to do! I am scared=
to death over this!
Lin, Ariel, Oberon, & Max