From:
sukiec@optonline.net
Date: 2005-07-29 03:35:15 UTC
Subject: RE: Enlarged spleen = pooping alot? Need advice please
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <1698693.1122608115581.JavaMail.root@thallium.smartgroups.com>
> I am worried his spleen is pushing on his bowels and making him feel like he has to >poop. He doesn't appear to be in any discomfort. Just annoyed. Has anyone ever >seen this before? What can I do for him? Is it time to consider removing the spleen? >Thanks in advance...
That can certainly happen. It can even cause constipation. We had one, Ruffle, who was not a surgical candidate for health reasons. (Actually, we had already risked surgery despite her cardiomyopathy and cardioma for liver cysts but that was because they would have been rapidly fatal, and it was was just too hazardous to do try another.) In her case antibiotics helped reduce her spleen some, and we used gentle massage along the ascending, transverse, and then descending colon to allow her to pass feces. Without that she simply could not deficate. Massage also can temporarily reduce the size of the spleen BUT IT MUST BE DONE ONLY IF THE TREATING VET SAYS IT IS SAFE. This is because some spleens are not good candidates for massage and it might even precipitate a rupture in really huge or vulnerable ones.