From:
dr_bruce_williams
Date: 2002-03-12 20:31:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Dr. Williams help
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., Cookshack2@a... wrote:
> I have a ferret that has a very large splean. The only blood level
that was
> different was his red blood count it was 26. Radioligist says
everything is
> okay but wants to remove splean. Possible adrainal? Help?
Dear Sunny:
Enlarged spleens are commonly seen in middle aged to older ferrets,
and often as a result of chornic inflammation in the gastrointestinal
tract. Adrenal disease is usually not associated with this finding,
but both are common and may be seen simultaneously.
However, the packed cell volume of 26 is quite low, and before I
would subject this little guy to surgery, I would want to look at the
whole CBC and chemistry to see if there are any additional clues as
to why she is so anemic, and probably would also want to recheck the
value in about 48 hours to see if it is actively decreasing.
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, dVM