From:
Andrea
Date: 2008-01-25 20:36:58 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Kidney shutdown or cancerous spleen? What caused the loss of my boy?
To: Ferret Health <ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com>
My ferret River just recently had surgery for insulinoma. The day after surgery, he didnt want to eat nor drink water. He would only take a couple of small licks at a time, then later in the afternoon, he started refusing everything. He looked like he was getting worse, and I figured it was due to him getting low glucose from not eating all day. I brought him into the emergency, thinking they would just need to give him fluids and dextrose. They ran some tests: his glucose was 55. They said his kidney values werent even registering. They did an ultrasound, and noticed 'dark splotches' on his spleen and liver. He ended up having a seizure and passing that night.
The vet who did his surgery, would have usually done an exploratory, but said that his heart beat had picked up a few times, so she just wanted to finish what she was in there to do (removing the tumors and part of his pancreas). She did tell me that she had a quick peak at his spleen, and noticed dark splotches and that it was enlarged, and said it could mean problems but didnt make a big deal of it.
When I was at the emergency, I had all of River's medical history w/ me (surgeon had given me a copy, just in case)... I was in shock w/ all that they were telling me... but I asked them to compare his blood chemistry that he just had just the previous day. I couldnt imagine his kidneys to be that bad off, and for that not to have shown up in the previous day's BW. Well, come to find out, they didnt do the Chem Panel. I had specifically asked them to do that. The Vet *knew* how cautious I was trying to be in deciding whether or not to have surgery for River. In one breath, she tells me that she never got that msg (that I wanted the Chem panel), and then in the next breath she tells me that she knew he just had BW done previously... IN NOVEMBER!!! Nov 1st. Almost 3 months before his surgery!!! I know its suppossed to be done no earlier than a week before surgery, thats why I specifically called them before the surgery to ask about it.
Sorry this is so long, but I wanted to give the facts before my questions. The surgeon is trying to tell me that the cause of his death is probably from him having some type of splenic cancer and that surgery was just to much for his body. Could that be true?
Or is it more likely from what I am thinking, some type of kidney problem/failure? I know ferrets can go downhill *fast*, but I just cant believe that if they had done the Chem Panel like they were suppossed to before the surgery, that they would have seen something off with his kidney values. Can ferret kidneys totally fail and "not even register" (as the emergency vets told me) within 24 hours??
Thank you,
Andrea
~Missing River
[Mod Note: see
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/post_mortem.htm
for information on the only way to know for sure]
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