To Reno, who had his spleen removed:
 
    Methinks your vet needs to talk with someone who is more familiar with
ferrets and their diseases.
 
    Enlarged spleens are very common in ferrets, especially in older ones.
Having seen this problem for years, we still do not have any idea which casues
most of the cases.  In my experience, less than ten percent have a definite
etiology - usually lymphosarcoma, but you can see several other tumors arise in
the spleen.  The remaining 90% show a combination of congestion (basically
filling with blood), and extramedullary hematopoiesis (the forming of new red
and white-blood cells in an area other than the bone marrow).  We still don't
know why ferrets do this, but the prevailing, and most logical opinion, is due
to a chronic infection, such as Helicobacter infection of the stomach, which is
VERY common in ferrets.  Chronic, low-grade infections require increased numbers
of white blood cells to fight them, so ferrets make more, generally in the
spleen.
 
    When the spleen gets very big, it tends to displace other organs, and
the ferrets usually become lethargic and don't feel up to snuff.  Plus a large
spleen has an increased chance of rupture as a result of minor trauma.  So they
are commonly removed, and the animals go on and do just fine.
 
    Blood cancer (most likely lymphosarcoma) occurs in less than ten percent
of cases; there is a ninety percent chance that your ferret doesn't have it, and
should be just fine.  But you never know unless your vet has the spleen
BIOPSIED!!!  Yes, having it looked at by a pathologist will markedly change the
course of treatment - either nothing, in the case of congestion and EMH, or
chemotherapy in the case of lymphosarcoma.
 
   The vast majority of ferrets with their spleens removed do just fine - a
guarded prognosis is probably a bit severe.  I have never seen medical
complications in a ferret that does not have a spleen, as long as the surgery is
done properly.
 
    Check with your vet and see if you may be able to take Reno home early -
he may do better at home.  He won't get better any faster in a cage at your
vet's.
 
    And get that spleen looked at!!!  (If your vet wants to send it to me, I
don't charge anything.  He/she can use the address and phone listed below.)
 
    Good luck with Reno.
 
   Bruce Williams, DVM                 Department of Veterinary Pathology
   [log in to unmask]         Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
   (202) 576-2453/2454                 Washington, D.C.  20306-6000
 
[Posted in FML issue 0802]