From:
Sukie Crandall
Date: 2004-06-15 01:06:53 UTC
Subject: Hilbert update (retained fetal characteristic formed auxiliary bladder causing blockage and bilateral hydronephrosis)
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-Id: <4A244530-BE68-11D8-A287-000A95CD182C@mac.com>
He'll be going to a specialist who is helping consult on him if his
condition worsens because he'd first need flow imaging of kidney,
ureters, and urethra. We have found two options who can both do each
of the things needed, one in-state and one in a neighboring state.
His problem is that he retained a fetal characteristic (now verified by
pathology): the tube which was attached to the umbilicus did not
retract and smooth out. Instead, it formed a pouch which held urine
that then dried, forming stones. With his high protein diet he just
didn't develop symptoms earlier that couldn't have other more normal
explanations (like submissive urination which also would fit his
personality). When symptoms developed just recently (at a bit over a
year old) they did so acutely and he wound up suddenly blocked (though
not for the usual reasons, i.e. not from adrenal disease caused
prostate enlargement and not from stones caused by a diet high in plant
proteins, but instead due to the pouch creating stones) and with
bilateral hydronephrosis, the much scarier part. On ultrasound his
kidneys are reducing in size since the bladder repair but creatine
levels are worsening though specific gravity remains in safe levels.
On consultation, advice is to jump if (when) his specific gravity
worsens but unless that happens give him a little time because now that
the kidneys are coming down in size his creatine numbers may follow a
while afterward.
He MIGHT be able to have one or both kidneys salvaged; it means round
the clock care here still going on, and if he needs one or more further
surgeries he has to first have some specialized imagining tests and
then depending on what is needed, a PU or a kidney removal if one
repairs but the other doesn't, or both PU and unilateral kidney loss.
So, he might make it or might not; he might soon have further surgeries
or not. It's all up in the air as we keep watching his numbers.
Basically, it was a congenital defect and hopefully it won't cost him a
kidney or his life. He'll get what he needs, as we know what he needs.
We are still awaiting the culture info but our treating vet has an
alternative antibiotic suggested by Dr. Sue on hand in case it may be
as useful for him as for some she encountered.
I wish we'd picked up more Torb for him; it is so much easier to subcu
him after that. He is major needle remover when getting stuck to put
something in, ditto IVs which he can get out in fewer than two minutes
even with them well wrapped in ways that usually work for ferrets.