From:
"Ulrike"
Date: 2005-01-16 15:19:43 UTC
Subject: Re: High Urea caused by cardiomyopathy?- heartworm?
To: <ferrethealth@smartgroups.com>
Message-Id: <25948274.1105890243829.JavaMail.nobody@vanadium.smartgroups.com>
Thank you for your repl, Dr. Ruth. Phosphorous wasn't measured (unless it's
abbreviated and I don't recognise it), creatinine is normal. Could the urea
be elevated because Dana was dehydrated because of the frusemide? I will
post all the blood test values at the end and indicate which ones are
outside the normal range. I thought we didn't have heartworm here in the UK
but a quick look on the Internet taught me different, apparently we have a
heartworm (Angiostrongylus vasorum), mainly in the south of England and
Wales, that is spread by slugs and snails and it affects slug and snal
eating dogs and foxes. But Dana has never eaten slugs and snails and doesn
t go outside much. Then again I was visiting a friend in south England 14
months ago and they had a ferret who ate slugs frequently and developed a
cough and eventually died, vets never found out what it was, no autopsy/
tests were done. And while the chance that Dana has heartworm is slim, it
is a definite possibility. Thank you for making me aware of that. But I
still don't think she would have eaten a slug or snail and the web site I
saw said it is transmitted by eating infected slugs and snails. So I wonder
what about stools, if my friend's ferret did have heartworm, could he have
transmitted it via his faeces? What should I do now?
Ulrike
Blood test values:
BIOCHEMISTRY
Total Protein 72.1 g/l (51 - 74)
Albumin 32.2 g/l (26 - 41)
Globulin 39.9 g/l
Creatinine 52 umol/l (< 75.0)
ALP 103 iu/l (34 - 66) <----- HIGH
ALT 71 iu/l
Urea 37.9 mmol/l (1.9 - 7.49) <----- HIGH
HAEMATOLOGY
Haemoglobin 13.6 g/l (12.0 - 18.0)
Red Blood Cells 9.89 x10^12/l (6.7 - 12.1)
PCV 0.445 % (0.43 - 0.55)
MCHC 30.6 g/dl
MCH 13.8 pg
MCV 45.0 fl
Platelets 654 x10^9l (297-910)
White Blood Cells 8.7 x10^9l (3.5 - 7.0) <----- HIGH
Neutrophils 66% 5.74 x10^9l (1.5 - 2.9) <----- HIGH
Neutrophils (Band) 0% 0.00 x10^9l
Lymphocytes 17% 1.48 x10^9l (1.7 - 2.9) <----- LOW
Monocytes 7% 0.61 x10^9l
Eosinophils 10% 0.87 x10^9l ( < 0.35) <----- HIGH
Haematologists Comment Unremarkable cellular morphology seen throughout film
-------Original Message-------
Ulrike:
Well, I know that in this area I'd be running a heartworm test and
scheduling
an echocardiogram, as well as an abdominal ultrasound. Not sure if you have
heartworm disease in your area, but eosinophilia can indicate parasitic
infections.
I have not seen elevated urea to be a consistent thing in heart disease. I
would be more suspicious of dehydration, kidney disease, etc, especially
with
the family history and the x-ray findings. What were the other kidney values
-
creatinine and phosphorus? The level of elevation of the liver enzyme that
you report is not huge, and I would keep an eye on that but not attribute it
at
this point to liver disease.
Dr. Ruth
********************************************
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