In response to:
 
> From: [log in to unmask] (John Gaver (root) 713/439-5757)
> Date:   Wed, 1 Jun 1994 20:43:34 -0400
 
> Please pardon the length of this post.  But we all feel that this kind of
> information is important and needs to be dissiminated as widely as possible.
> The Case History and an excerpt from the Pathology Report Follow.
 
Path report deleted
 
My ferret had a grossly enlarged spleen to the point of anemia as did
Patty. His splenectomy immediately relieve the symptoms of anemia and he
regained energy. At the time of the splenectomy the vet made an internal
exam of organs and there was no sign of cancer. No explanation of the
enlarged spleen was found. It had apparently started sequestering blood on
its own. My ferret lived for another two years but died from lymphoma that
had apparently invaded his pancreas and also into the linning of his
stomach. I am still not convinced that the sudden enlargement of his spleen
was not an early response to whatever caused the lymphoma. My second ferret
followed the same course as my first  a year later, only she died of lymphoma
withing 6 mths of her splenectomy. She also did not show signs of cancer on
an internal exam at the time of her splenectomy but at her death the
lymphoma had invaded her lungs.
 
To the vets out there. What is the thinking on a viral cause of lymphoma?
Could a virus cause something like a  two stage response, first fooling the
spleen into sequestering healthy blood in its attempt to filter out virus
bearing blood cells? Followed by some kind of reduced resistance to or
induction of  cancers.
 
Max
 
[Posted in FML issue 0853]