From:
"Sue Liszewski"
Date: 2003-11-11 06:46:00 UTC
Subject: Re: [ferrethealth] Torn cruciate ligament-best course of action? and vena cava
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
stenting
Message-ID: <Law12-F823G5aYY61LE00027e02@hotmail.com>
>From what I understand you can often get away with ligating the Vena Cava if
it is absolutely nec but I personally have never done it. With refer to the
cruciate, my guess the ligament was weakened due to the adrenal disease and
excess production of cortisol and so it probably would not have taken much
for this to happen. Getting his leg caught and pulling it our (which would
be no problem in a normal ferret) would be enough to cause the tear. Good
Luck. With the big tumors I find that you can often get them out but due to
their overwhelmng blood supply, the ferrets often go in to shock several
hours post op if their body doesn't compensate. I don't use much medical
therapy but from reading the benefits I wonder if short term use in Bandits
case might shrink the size of the tumor somewhat making it a little bit
easier to remove. It is always something to think about.
Good Luck.
Dr, Sue
>From: "April Armstrong Campbell" <grape_apes@charter.net>
>Reply-To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
>To: <ferrethealth@smartgroups.com>
>Subject: [ferrethealth] Torn cruciate ligament-best course of action? and
>vena cava stenting
>Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2003 22:15:41 -0500
>
>Hi. My vet and I (she's a board-certified orthopedic surgeon who also does
>a ton of adrenalectomies and insulinoma surgeries on ferrets) are
>researching our best course of action for my 5-yr-old adrenal boy, Bandit.
>Some of you may recall that he's the ferret that had the "biggest adrenal
>tumor" my vets had ever seen prior to Shannon's, which then became the
>biggest (hers was the size of my fist, was malignant, extremely aggresive,
>grown into the liver, wrapped around the vena cava to the point where it
>was completely compromised at surgery; Shannon died two days later).
>
>Bandit's adrenal tumor is also very tangled up in his vena cava, but we are
>considering the relatively new stenting procedure for it, gradually closing
>it off completely in the hopes that the blood will reroute itself,
>basically. Any opinions on this or experience with it would be welcome; my
>vet learned a lot about this at a conference, and it seems result in a
>recovery rate of about 75% in nonaggressive tumors, from what I have
>learned.
>
>Our other problem with Bandit: He completely tore his left rear cruciate
>ligament-have no idea what he did!!! Anyway, if he was a dog, they'd do a
>TPLO repair, but in most cats and ferrets, I guess it normally just gets
>left to heal on its own, sometimes with splinting. He's not really in much
>pain, and is getting around great, but we do have some concerns about
>scarring, etc., particularly in relation to his adrenal tumor and
>complications it could cause.
>
>So any advice, experience, etc. in either regard would be greatly
>appreciated.
>
>Dooks!
>
>-April Armstrong Campbell and the Auburn Five
>
>
>
>--
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>
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