To Dale Miller concerning splenomegaly:
 
        Dale - I am glad that you consulted the FAQ - it is an excellent
     source of medical material for both you and your vet.  Concening your
     question:
 
     >Our vet--who sees a number of ferrets and with whom we have always
     >been very highly sat- isfied--has our ferret scheduled for an X-ray
     >next week.  He said that if the spleen is lumpy it will need to be
     >removed, but that if it is smooth this will likely not be necessary.
 
        Dale - it is very uncommon for ferret spleens to be bumpy - they
     are invariably smooth and enlarged.  This does not mean that smooth
     spleens should not be examined fully.  I am not in favor of
     radiographs as the sole test for splenic evaluation - all thorough
     evalsuations should include either a splenic aspirate with a syringe
     and needle, or a surgical biopsy, wither of which should be evaluated
     by a veterinary pathologist.
 
        Concerning your question about reading the slide, unfortunately,
     due to the large number of cases that are currently arriving at the
     AFIP for consultation on ferrets (5-6 day), I have had to cut back on
     the types of cases that we are now accepting (the number of ferret
     cases is choking the system, not to mention the expense for processing
     all of these cases.)
 
        Cases that we are no longer soliciting include the following:
     routine biopsies of islet cell tumors, adrenal glands, and
     unfortunately, splenic biopsies.  We have, or are in the process of
     publishing on the first two, and have gone about as far as we can in
     our teaching program with this type of material  (you can only look at
     so many islet cell tumors before they lose their teaching potential).
     We are still currently accepting all other cases from practitioners at
     no charge, including skin tumors, autopsy specimens, etc.
 
        Sorry that I can't handle your case, but I would still highly
     recommend that any specimens be sent to a veterinary pathologist for
     examination.
 
       Bruce Williams, DVM                 Department of Veterinary Pathology
       [log in to unmask]         Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
       OR [log in to unmask]           Washington, D.C.  20306-6000
            (202) 782-2600/2602
[Posted in FML issue 1153]