From:
Sukie Crandall
Date: 2007-10-27 18:13:31 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Re: post surgical seroma
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com, ferret-l@LISTSERV.FERRETMAILINGLIST.ORG
Follow-up on the post-surgical seroma at
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/message/4315
Something I sent my dear friends who are also FHL moderators this
morning before I hit the sack:
Between 5 and 5:30 Whizzie either had the stitches give out where the
seroma had formed or she pulled them. I found her at 5:30 with
omentum hanging out -- a LOT of omentum hanging out. She would not
stay in plastic wrap (which I know is used in emergencies for that
kind of injury for humans) so we got her lower body into a plastic
bag and drove to the hospital to meet our vet for emergency surgery.
So we are just back from that, and it was just in time. The omentum
was dragging along a bit of intestine. Anyway, we are home from our
first time helping with an abdominal procedure, and she has extra
meds, tough antibotics, antibiotic stitches and staples.
Looks like a post-surgical seroma in a ferret can signal the
potential for worse happening afterward. Stitches are not Whizzie's
friends...
Okay, more details: Whizzie is having small meals about ever two
hours and actually seems a bit more comfy than she was with the
seroma. Boy, did we all have a scare, though.
When I first saw the ropes of bloody stuff hanging from her I thought
that at least part was intestines, But fortunately, a tad of the
coils of intestine that the omentum dragged along did not emerge at
all until at the hospital (about an hour's drive away normally but
with such little traffic and luck with most of the timing of the
lights we were there much sooner). Basically, she had her own
version of some liposuction...
The reason I knew about plastic wrap was because of the Red Cross
training I long ago had, but she kept pulling it off. A large
plastic zip lock freezer bag was absolutely IDEAL for protection with
me holding her (TIP).
The reason we caught it fast is because in her case with a partial
pancreatomy we were providing meals every 2 hours, so Steve and I
were doing shifts, and at times she had an extra check -- in this
case because I was returning to my chair from the bathroom so i
stopped and checked. We all got lucky.
We still don't know if her tissue gave out or if she tried chewing at
the seroma location.
Point to take to heart: a post surgical seroma at an incision might
indicate a place of vulnerability so get it checked out promptly even
if it seems okay long-distance, and monitor any ferret with such a
seroma rigorously.
Second point to take to heart: luckily, everything that looks like
intestines is not so don't give up.
Learn to live and live to learn.
Sukie (not a vet)
Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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