From:
"Sukie Crandall"
Date: 2009-03-04 15:35:41 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Re: Splenectomy
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
We've had a few who had splenectomies over the
years.
The way one of our vets explained it to me is that
if the vet feels the spleen is safe to gently pat then
much of the blood can be moved into the body
before the spleen in removed, reducing or eliminating
the risk of anemia.
If there is a chance of anemia then it would not be a
bad idea to have a large male handy in case a blood
donation is needed for transfusion. I don't know if
epogen would be useful for this type of anemia. Ah,
maybe it would because
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/SG66
includes
QUOTE
erythropoetin alfa (Epogen) to help stimulate the bone marrow
to produce aditional red blood cells
END QUOTE
None of ours needed a transfusion, all could be
patted, even two whose spleens got so large that
they popped out of the body cavity (still attached,
of course) on their own when incisions were made.
The biggest problem we had was keeping them from
over-doing things after surgery because they felt great
not carrying around that huge organ and were at risk of
injuring themselves from getting too active. I know we
had to not only restrict but actually dope up at least two
to reduce the risk of self-injury.
Long term we saw no ill effects what-so-ever.
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