From:
Sukie Crandall
Date: 2011-04-27 16:01:32 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] approaches sought: ferret with adrenal disease who has possible related platelet clumping
To: fhl <ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com>
Telemna, female, age 6 years began late last year with a large right adrenal, possible carcinoma but at the time her heart also looked a bit enlarged on both x-rays and ultrasound on day of surgery, so surgery was not done.
Her heart looks fine on the most recent ultrasounds.
In-house blood work and sent out bloodwork were also done that originally scheduled surgery day in December 2010 to be safest. That bloodwork showed that there could be some platelet clumping or the amount seen might be from the time frame involved in transport, and it kind of wound up on a back burner with the more serious worried about her then.
Fast forward to rescheduled surgery after her heart looked okay. That had to be postponed because we had three senior family members, two parents and a step-parent, all at times in very serious shape during those weeks (but all got past the worst). Then a new date was set for surgery for Telemna once all of them were out of the woods, but it turned out that when visiting one of the sick elderly family members Steve (my wonderful hubby with whom I'll share our 31st wedding anniversary next month) contracted severe food poisoning from a sandwich shop and was very ill for a week, barely avoiding the hospital himself.
Okay, that gets us to today, the scheduled date of Telemna's surgery, but guess what Telemna did? If you recall the possible platelet clumping in in December you will have figured it out. She got a spattering of tiny bruises, very visible because of her earlier, repeated shaving for ultrasounds.
If those are from actual platelet clumping she is at risk of oozing out and dying even if she makes it through surgery, so she is having more bloodwork done and might wind up today with a transfusion from Orville.
Our vet is planning to consult with some experts he knows and I have gotten him the contact information for consultations with Dr. Cottrell (Debbie Kemmerer Cottrell) who has done bone marrow transplants in ferrets:
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/SG16195
Telemna is currently packing 2 of the smaller size Suprelorin implants (November and February) and a Ferretonin implant (February) but the clumping indicates that she may still be churning out very high estrogen levels. She is on no other medications and is in good health other than what has been mentioned here. (She is our piano player (and excuse the room redecorating including a spilling carried food dish the ferrets provided that day):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayJ-WvVaRnE )
I know it doesn't sound much like it because I am trying to calm myself and not be nervous for Steve till we know more, but I am actually terribly afraid that Telemna might be in her last weeks, because i do know how serious this is. Yes, I know the approaches can be different than for anemia, and that the treatments for platelet clumping might also differ with different causes...
Hard information on platelet clumping in ferrets is exactly what would help us right now (and, please, restrict communications to that because I do not have any time for other notes -- many thanks for taking that into consideration), and our vet is testing further and using expert consultants.
Sukie (not a vet)
Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
http://www.miamiferret.org/
http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html
all ferret topics:
http://listserv.ferretmailinglist.org/archives/ferret-search.html
"All hail the procrastinators for they shall rule the world tomorrow."
(2010, Steve Crandall)
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