From:
"Danee DeVore"
Date: 2009-08-26 05:19:59 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Need some ideas
To: <ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com>
This is mostly for any vets on the list, but if any ferret owners have
encountered this before, please, let me know how you dealt with the problem
and what the outcome was.
The ferret is a 5 month old male - whole. About 3 weeks ago, he fell and
apparently hurt his back. Afterward, he was having trouble using his hind
quarters. He was taken to the vet, and a full exam and x-ray were done.
There were no visible breaks or fractures in any bones. They also did a
packed cell count, which was in the 40s, so the vet felt there was no
internal bleeding. The vet thought it was probably a soft tissue injury,
and put him on a 5 day course of Metacam. We do not know if this initial
injury has anything to do with what happened next, or if the timing is
purely coincidental.
At first, he appeared to improve, but then about the5 day, he began to
backslide. So, we went back to the vet. This was on August 20. He had a
temperature of over 106, and his spleen was noticeably enlarged from what it
had been the week before. A blood test was run, and while the liver and
kidney enzyme levels were all OK, he was anemic and had a very low platelet
count. The red count was low, but more important, there were few immature
red cells. My vet was concerned his machine was not giving correct
readings, and so blood was also sent out to the lab for a CBC and
differential. The results from the lab confirmed the initial test results
were correct.
On the 20th, my vet felt it was either lymphoma or an auto-immune disease.
After discussing various options, we decided to treat with Baytril and
prednisone. He was also given a shot of Procrit, and I was given a syringe
with an additional dose to administer on the 23.
On the 22 he was to go back down for another CBC, and would receive a
transfusion if necessary. The results on the 22 were somewhat encouraging,
as the platelets were up, and the red cell count was also up very slightly.
However, there were still very few immature red cells. Also, his white cell
count had dropped. His spleen had increased in size over what it had been 2
days before. He was now up and walking around, although very weak, so we
went home and were told to continue treating as we had been.
Today he was getting very weak again, so we went back in. His red cell
count had dropped back down. His spleen had also again increased noticeably
in size. His temperature was normal. My vet felt the red cell count was
still high enough that transfusing was not the right option. He is rather
stumped by this, though. He is a very good ferret vet, but has never seen
anything quite like this. He still is thinking either lymphoma or
auto-immune. Given the ferret is only 5 months, if it is lymphoma it would
probably be JL. We did another x-ray, to see if anything new popped up, but
the x-ray looks clean. My vet does not have a sonogram machine, but he
suggested that having a sonogram done somewhere else by someone who knows
ferrets might tell us more. He also said he could do surgery and remove
part or all of the spleen, and have a pathologist take a look at it. That
might give us a better idea of what we are dealing with, but not
necessarily.
I hate to put this boy through an unnecessary surgery, but if it would help
us get a definitive diagnosis, then maybe it isn't so unnecessary. Anyway,
my vet was going to think on this overnight and call me tomorrow with any
new thoughts. So, if any of you have any ideas, please let me know.
Meanwhile, here are some of the values from the different CBCs. I did not
include everything - just those that my vet had underlined and indicated
were important or ones that were out of the norm. Also, in case it matters,
he has an IDEXX machine.
August 20
August 22 August 25
RBC 4.16 M/uL 4.55
M/uL 4.24 m/uL
HCT 22.9%
25.5% 23.9%
HGB 8.0 g/dl
8.3 g/dl 8.1 g/dl
%Retic 1.4%
1.3% 1.6%
Retic 58.8 K/uL
58.3 K/uL 69.8 K/uL
WBC 2.77 K/uL 1.54
K/uL 7.22 K/uL
%NEU 48.2% 39.2%
37.8%
%LYM 37.8% 46.6%
50.3%
%MONO 9.8% 10.4%
8.4%
%EOS 3.5% 3.1%
3.0%
%BASO 0.7% 0.7%
0.6%
NEU 1.34 K/uL 0.60
K/uL 2.73 K/uL
LYM 1.05 K/uL 0.72
K/uL 3.63 K/uL
MONO 0.27 K/uL 0.16
K/uL 0.61 K/uL
EOS 0.10 K/uL 0.05
K/uL 0.21 K/uL
BASO 0.02 K/uL 0.01
K/uL 0.04 K/uL
PLT 37 K/uL 94
K/uL >81 K/uL PLT aggregates detected
MPV 11.76 fL
14.29 fL 14.60 fL
PDW 19.9%
21.3% 21.8%
PCT 0.0%
0.1% 0.1%
The report from the lab has the following remarks typed in:
"Slide reviewed microscopically"
"Reactive lymphocytes present"
"Target cells- moderate"
"Platelets appear markedly decreased"
There are also several handwritten comments that I cannot decipher.
We have discussed what all of these things could mean, so I am not looking
for an explanation of the values. Instead, I am looking for any thoughts
people might have as to what this might be, or how best to treat it.
For now, I am praying it is an auto-immune disease or reaction, because that
is at least treatable, and therefore better than lymphoma.
Danee DeVore
ADV - If your ferret hasn't been tested, you don't know!
For more information visit:
<http://www.ferretadv.com> http://www.ferretadv.com
ADV - Find out how you can help:
http://help4adv.terrabox.com/
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