From:
Dianna Stover
Date: 2008-02-16 04:52:43 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Saddle Thrombosis in ferrets
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
I would like to know if anyone has heard or had a ferret that was diagnosed with a Saddle Thrombosis(blood clot). I have a 4-5 yr. old little guy that could have had it. Wednesday (1/30-08 )Nike started to drag his left hind leg. Husband called our vet, by the time I got home 4 hrs. later, both hind limbs were paralyzed and very cold, light pink but Cold. Vet did blood glucose (78, after almost 4 hr fast) full blood panel, and X-rays. She also told us he had feeling in his hind feet and legs. We were told that for all practical purposes, Nike was healthy as a horse. No lumps, bumps or breaks. We were sent home with Metacam (1.5mg/ml) told to give him 0.2ml twice daily. I talked to a friend that had a paralyzed little boy and she suggested acupuncture. I made an appointment with that Dr. By Friday(2/01/08) he was trying to use his hind legs. Also they were warm again. Each day brought him a little closer to his normal walk. His second treatment of acupuncture was
Saturday(2/09/08). He still has a little bit of a limp but other wise he is normal again. The acupuncturist listened to his heart and said he had a slight heart murmur. He told us that if Nike had been a cat, for sure he had thrown a blood clot (Saddle Thrombosis) and it could happen again,but as he wasn't a ferret vet, he didn't know if that condition existed in them. In his opinion, he thinks that is what caused Nike's problem and some type of blood thinner would be advisable. I let my ferret knowledgeable vet have this information. She then consulted with a much more ferret knowledgeable vet and both said NO to the Thrombosis theory. Neither one of them had ever heard of it in ferret, CATS YES, FERRETS NO. So, back to square one. The thrombosis theory seems plausible to me, but I'm not a Dr. My question is Has any ones baby had any of the same symptoms as Nike and if so, what did your vet come up with? Any vet that monitor this site, your input would be
helpful also. For now we are keeping Nike on the Metacam as it has some blood thinning properties. Does anyone know of a different medicine that might be better?
Thank you for you time in reading my post and any help you can provide. I'm just not ready to except the idea of we don't know what it is, so let's not do anything and see if it happens again. Nike's life could be in danger if he did throw a blood clot.
Thank you,
Dianna
[Moderator's Note: thromboses happen for several reasons in ferrets. Cardiomyopathy is the most common but they can happen with kidney disease, or with lymphoma, or some lesser seen things. They are not common but not terribly uncommon, either. We personally have had two who had them over a space of about a quarter century, one (kidney disease) threw one to the brain and recovered. The other first threw one to a leg, and then later within 24 hors of each other threw one to a kidney and one to her brain. Saddle thromboses settle into a major vascular junction hence the name since they sit there like saddle, and hence the effect on both legs.
Information on thromboses can be found in the easily searched FHL Archives:
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
Most important is to find the underlying cause and treat that.]
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