Hello:
 
Many of you have been following our reports concerning Ripple, our ~11 year
old ferret who had to have an enlarged spleen removed.  We thought we'd
update you as to his status.
 
First off, Ripple is doing *magnificently*.  The minute we got him home he
started sniffing the air as if in realization that he was finally, FINALLY
back home where he belonged.  Once we got him to his temporary abode (the
downstairs bathroom) he hopped out of his cage and promptly ran over to the
shower to drink some of that delicious people shower water!  Since then he's
been eating like a HORSE, and today we let him out into the main bedroom
where he's active and curious and in general quite pleased to be "in his
domain" again.  He shows every sign of recovering quickly and well.
 
   Secondly, we finally got some info on the spleen that Dr. Roeder
removed.  Before the surgery Ripple weighed 2.5 pounds (40 ounces).  The
spleen was the most massive Dr. Roeder had *ever* seen:
 
   --  6 ounces (AFTER the epinephrine shot to reduce it
       prior to surgery), or 15% of his body weight;
   --  6 inches in length, 2 inches wide, and 3/8 inches thick;
   --  the spleen very nearly filled his abdominal cavity,
       impinging on pretty much every organ the poor thing has;
   --  no signs of cancer (it's still in biopsy) whatsoever,
       just one gigantic spleen.
 
Apparently when Dr.  Roeder's assistant came back to check on how things
were progressing, she thought the spleen had come out of a dog or something.
They said it looked like a big slab of liver.
 
Colleen and I can't *believe* that Ripple was running around with this
Monster Spleen in his gut all these years.  These weasels are *incredibly*
tough little animals.
 
Steve and Colleen
Continually Matching Wits with Missy, Newone, Zebulon Pike,
                               Minx, Slinky, Puck, and Ripple
[Posted in FML issue 1431]