From:
muskyfur@gmail.com
Date: 2006-10-29 03:52:13 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Lymph fluid filling abdomen
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Hi,
I have a ferret with a fluid filled abdomen (lymph fluid- its been tested) that has
driven my vet into exasperation. We don't know what to try next.
The ferret- Hana is a 5 year old, late alter (2 litters), albino, 1/2 angora. Aside from
dragging her large abdomen around, she doesn't think she's ill.
Diet- Evo (canine), Felidae (or equivalent), a weekly fresh raw egg (shared with 6
others), at least once every 2 weeks (or more) fresh raw rabbit, mouse or chicken.
Treats are goat yogurt, ferretone, rotisserie chicken (or whatever on my plate she's
curious about). She has a preference for meat things to chew on.
The problem- her abdomen keeps filling with lymph fluid. It gets drained, then
refills. She's had a surgery since she has shown some adrenal symptoms (thinning
hair, muscle wasting), but her adrenals were normal. My vet said her liver looked
"angry" (not diseased). The strangest thing was when she was opened up, free
floating in the abdominal fluid were several large white masses (~2cm-3cm
diameter). They were tested and are not tumors nor bacterial origin. A biopsy of the
liver didn't indicate anything specific.
She has had 2 courses of Baytril, a course of amoxy, a course of metrizol (sp?). She
is getting weaned off of .25ml pred because it seems to make the fluid buildup
worse (tried for 10 days). I am starting her on some Albon just in case her diet has
introduced her to coccidia.
Lab test show no bacteria, no cancer, not even abnormal cells.
She's had a slightly abnormal heart beat (occasional skipping) but seems to be a
result of the problem/fluid build up rather than the cause. It is very intermittent. It
may have also arisen from a bad infection she had about 1 1/2 years ago (which was
also abdominal & maybe connected in some weird way).
My vet suspects a blocked lymph, somewhere, but she isn't sure what test can be
done. I would rather avoid the stress of the surgery unless we know exactly what we
are going in for.
My vet will be happy to talk to anyone with ideas. I would really love to hear any
ideas as we're at our wits end.
Thank you
Norina
PS. If I wind up with a double post, I appologize. I had an error message & tried
again
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