From:
"suedvm96"
Date: 2009-08-27 20:58:08 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Re: Need some ideas
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
Based on the secondary signs etc have you considered any Tick borne diseases. I think you could look at a tick paralysis that would disapper when the tick detatches and if a blood borne parasite was introduced you would see ALL OF THE SIGNS you mentioned. It might be a long shot but I would strongly consider it.
Best of luck.
Dr Sue
TLC First Animal Hospital
Chicago, IL 60631
--- In ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com, "Danee DeVore" <Ferrets4all@...> wrote:
>
> 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/
>
>
> <http://geo.yahoo.com/serv?s=97359715/grpId=17551453/grpspId=1705042741/msgI
> d=1616/stime=1251208280/nc1=5191953/nc2=5758220/nc3=5522126>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
------------------------------------
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
mailto:ferrethealth-digest@yahoogroups.com
mailto:ferrethealth-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
ferrethealth-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/