hi all,

i wrote a few months back about my angora, phoebe, and the strange
pear-shape she had developed. she went to the vet and it was determined
her spleen was enlarged, which isn't too uncommon in ferrets. at the
time she was acting fine; eating/drinking/pooping/peeing, just not as
active since her belly was getting big, while the rest of her was
getting rather skinny. she went from being a hyper little spaz to being
much more sedate, happy to stay in the kangaroo pocket of my hoodie
instead of exploring and playing with the other kids. i've kept her
in a separate single-level cage with a low hammock to keep her safer
ever since this started.

well, over 2 months later now since the belly definitely did seem to
be getting bigger i took her back to the vet, and yes, her spleen has
gotten much larger, but she is still acting fine as before, just
still less active...big-big belly, and skinny body, but still
eating/drinking/pooping/peeing fine (she was even thoughtful enough to
poop and pee right on the doctor's scale, so they could see how normal
everything looked.) we did a full cbc and labs, and now blood tests
show she is terribly anemic, while her protein levels are high. a few
other values are out-of-whack as well, either high or low. (if anyone
wants to see the full report, let me know...i know it can be difficult
to post them here and have them be legible.) nothing jumping right out
at us, not making an easy diagnosis of the problem.

soooo, she is on clavamox and lixotinic and is scheduled for a
splenectomy on monday. there are concerns that the surgery will be
high-risk due to the anemia, also that malignant hypothermia and
hypotension are very real possibilities owing to her condition, as
well as the unique upper respiratory structure of angoras, that
ventiliating her effectively could be difficult; keeping her oxygen
sats stable during surgery, so many worries.

so i am very frightened that she may not make it thru surgery, if she
makes it thru the weekend without her spleen rupturing. my vet is very
ferret-knowledgeable; i have faith in him...he brought my pixie-doodle
back from all-but-dead over 2 years ago after her accident and is open
to alternative treatments, like acupuncture, and has consulted with
colorado state university's vet hospital on this matter, but there are
so many uncertainties and negatives at work here.

the question: 'what has caused this?' has raised many questions. cancer
seems unlikely as she is not even two years old, but with ferrets,
always a possibility. the other unnerving possibility that occurred to
me late last night (which i have discussed with the vet and he didn't
think me nuts) is aplastic anemia. sound odd?

well, consider...i got phoebe as a surrender at the animal shelter in
november of 2010. the surrenderers claimed they got her at a pet store,
and yet gave her up at less than 6 months of age. are angoras readily
found at standard pet stores? would someone pay that premium price for
an angora, only to abandon her mere months later? most glaringly, she
has *no* tattooes, i discovered recently. so there is indeed a very
strong possibility that she was from a backyard breeder and was never
spayed. a horrible thought. if that turns out to be the case, she'll
also be getting spayed during the splenectomy and hope she can recover
from that as well...and as i've read, that can be a losing battle.

so, here i am, with many questions, fears, trepidations, and
worries...looking for anyone with a similar experience who might share
some insight or knowledge. i have scoured the FHL and FML archives,
but have seen mixed information, and most of it verrry old. hoping
more-modern medicine has advanced and helped with prognoses.

if anyone can offer any advice in any direction, please do. my little
phoebe's too young to die so soon. i want to see my silly little
fireball live out her long natural life. :-/

thanks...

~sherrie, aka daoine o' the ferret queen

and the gang: burleigh, pandora, emma-wheee, ashby, sebastien, and
phoebe von plume, the fluffiest ferret in the mountains

over the bridge: ~missing pixie-doodle, felix, shay-shay mcweasel, max,
sascha-beanhead, monty-boo, razzle, jezebel, loki, sylvi, natasha the
stranger, and dweezil...my first, my one small star.

[Posted in FML 7372]