From:
Ferrethealer@aol.com
Date: 2005-03-06 21:07:57 UTC
Subject: Help with Pathology Report was Re: [ferrethealth] Digest 6 Mar 2005
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <12b.5833f17a.2f5ccb2d@aol.com>
In a message dated 03/06/05 10:07:05 AM Eastern Standard Time,
ferrethealth-digest-help@smartgroups.com writes:
My ferret Tara, 3 1/2 years, spayed, stomach blockage surgery 14 months ago,
was put to sleep 22nd Feb. She was completely normal on Saturday the 19th
and I watched her play as I did every morning. Sunday I got her out of the
cage and she could barely move. Went to emergency vets and she got rimadyl
and baytril. Monday she was worse and was x-rayed and had a blood test.
Monday night she deteriorated badly, was restless *all night* even though
she found it very hard to move, she moaned all night and seemed to be
suffering badly, so Tuesday she was put to sleep.
I actually responded privately to Ulrike last night on this, as Sukie had
forwarded the post to me knowing that I'm on digest format and wouldn't get it
until today. Sukie asked me to post my response here as well, so here it is:
Hi, Sukie and Ulrike,
Haven't gotten the actual FHL digest yet, so not sure what (if anything) my
colleagues have said, but to me, what this sounds like is a probable blood clot
episode (saddle thrombus) such as we see in cats with cardiomyopathy on
occasion. What happens is that they throw a blood clot and it lodges in the point
where the aorta divides and goes into the back legs. The cats lose all
control, strength and usually are unable to move their back legs, which tend to be
quite cold to the touch. They are quite painful, usually.
The report of the types of cells is of interest mostly to another pathologist
- for us it means mainly that there is indication of some degree of heart
failure. The congestion in the spleen goes along with that, as does the edema in
the lungs.
Cardiomyopathy can be "silent" for a long time - the cats we see with these
blood clots have almost never been diagnosed with any type of heart disease.
It would explain the symptoms as far as I can see.
So sorry for your loss, Ulrike.
Dr. Ruth
********************************************
Puppies kiss better than most people.