>From:    Flemming Farms <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Medical Site
>Have found an excellent site with photos of common ferret surgeries!  It
>is excellent with excellent photos and descriptions!  There are other
>animal areas as well.  Have a look!
>http://www.lbah.com/Ferrets/ferret_diseases.htm
 
Excellent web site but I have a question or two for any vets out there on
the very first page I visited... the one on adrenal disease.
 
The first line on the page says that adrenal tumors cause excess cortisol.
It's my understanding that serum cortisol levels are rarely elevated in
ferrets with adrenal disease.
 
Further down the page it shows a picture of an enlarged spleen and says
something about a biopsy to determine whether or not it is "normal
enlargement, called hypersplenism..." whoa, I thought normal enlargement
was called splenomegaly and hypersplenism is a specific condition.  To
paraphrase "Ferrets, Rabbits and Rodents..." hypersplenism causes a
deficiency of one of the blood elements as a result of excessive
destruction by the spleen.
 
Any clarification or correction on these two topics would be appreciated!
 
For the ferrets,
Mike
 
* Michael F. Janke, [log in to unmask]
* South Florida Ferret Help Line, 305-752-7040
*
* Website:  http://www.miamiferret.org
* Adrenal/Insulinoma web site: http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc
[Posted in FML issue 3178]