From:
Sukie Crandall
Date: 2011-05-02 17:51:00 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Re: approaches sought: ferret with adrenal disease who has possible related platelet clumping
To: fhl <ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com>
Update on Telemna:
She remains rather confusing.
Today we went down to the hospital with her for her blood draw for the TN Panel and yet another CBC. When we left and even on the drive down when she was sleeping inside my shirt and breathing through it (Steve driving.) Telemna's bruising was fading and minimal. Within minutes of being there she was covered with bruises again.
So, part of what is going on might be a bad allergy on her part.
But it gets more complicated: her right adrenal continues to increase in size and can now be easily felt by hand, her heart is once again imaging as being a bit too large, and one of her nodes by a rear leg is definitely up with the other being so-so.
Her medical options could therefore be best described in the "damned if you do and damned if you don't" category right now.
She absolutely has to have steroids with her current prominent problem, but if she has heart disease those can be a difficulty, of course. She has a Dex shot on board and will be starting Prednisolone because of the bruising and possible immune system cause of that (also in case that node is not due to allergies but in case her underlying adrenal problem is lymphoma based there).
The compounding pharmacy has already ordered the Arimidex, though they mentioned the generic name so I had them double check. We will have that before the TN Panel is even back so that immediate use can be begun as/if needed. (That one is for if her estrogen is still too high so that her marrow does not fail her.)
Today she did not need a transfusion but on Wednesday will have one. Orville came with us just to be safest, and he obviously will go along on Wednesday.
We know that she has that adrenal which began symptoms as a large one, but she might also have some other problems: allergies, the right adrenal might have lymphoma or have carcinoma rather than the usual adrenal neoplasia, and she keeps looking like she could be dealing with early cardiomyopathy but if so it is early enough that the ultrasound and x-ray results differ over time (questionable, questionable, then within normal bounds, now again questionable). The heart issue is why surgery was not done in the first place. She has two Suprelorin implants in her (smaller size, late last year and one in early Spring) and a Ferretonin implant.
Her proteins are down and she did have platelet clumping in the CBC before this one. Hematocrit is a bit better today than last time (late last week).
Glucose is perfect and nothing indicates any pancreatic problem. Kidneys so far test fine, but you know how ferrets are with that in that the blood test do not always spot it in ferrets. There has been no reason to worry about her pancreas, kidneys, or liver right now, but with that large right adrenal neighboring the liver and right kidney we are aware of them. The worries are her right adrenal with the possibility that she might have either lymphoma or carcinoma there, possible bad allergies, and possible cardiomyopathy.
She has some lethargy currently (not a surprise with the platelet problem, nor with allergies, nor heart disease, nor a malignancy).
Last time the bruising was worse where the vet hospital is (down from the ridges in a warmer area) so it is possible -- if allergies -- that when it gets worse here is when pollen blows up from there. (They are in central NJ in the flatter area on the way to Princeton while we live in north central NJ in the ridge and swamp geographic region.) One of the office managers told me that animals and people in that area are having a lot of problems with allergies right now with so many things pollinating at once making the pollen load high.
I hope that this is not too disjointed; I did not have much sleep.
Yes, Telemna is our piano player, though last week and this week she has barely played with her tiredness.
Sukie (not a vet)
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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:
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"All hail the procrastinators for they shall rule the world tomorrow."
(2010, Steve Crandall)
On change for its own sake: "You can go really fast if you just jump off the cliff."
(2010, Steve Crandall)
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