I need some advice.  I got the bloodwork back on my Katie that they did last
week.  I'll give a short recap of what's been going on with her lately.
(please bear with me, this might be a long post)
 
On Halloween weekend, I had 2 visiting ferrets (who their owner got from a
shelter somewhere out on the east coast this past August).  The Sun night
that the "intruders" left, I noticed diarrhea and greenish poop (I was
almost sure it was from Katie, not from her sister) and Katie was vomiting.
So they went off to the vet, Katie got an Xray which didn't show any
blockage and they got prescribed an antibiotic.  The next day, Kaylin was
throwing up, so the vet said to stop giving her the antibiotic.  They seemed
to improve within a day or so.
 
Nov 22, I noticed that Katie wasn't playing as much a normal and that she
was losing weight.  Sun night I fed her chicken baby food and went to the
vet first thing Monday morning, she looked anorexic.  They took a stool
sample and did a CBC.  The fecal showed a high # of some bacteria (not sure
what it was called).  But the bacteria could of be caused by some immuno
problems.  The results of the CBC are:
 
 ALT (SGPT)     = 264   (VERY HIGH)
 Chloride       = 105  (slightly low)
 Chloresterol   = 166 (high)
 Total Proteins = 3.8 (low)
 Hematocrit     = 46 (barely high)
 Hemoglobin     = 14.7 (slightly high)
 Albumin        = 1.1 (low)
 
Everything else was within normal limits.  They (the 2 vets i'm working
with) concluded that there was something wrong with her liver.  An
exploratory surgery was set up for this Thursday.  I started syringe feeding
her Science Diet AD a few times a day.
 
Sat night, I found a hole in the side of their playhouse (Katie was the
suspect since I saw her gnawing on her bedding earlier in the weekend).  I
got a hold of some carafate and gave her one dose--20 min later, she was
eating a few nuggets of her real food.  I called the vet right away at 8 am
Mon morning (I was just leaving the night shift) and told him of the
"progress".  When I got home 45 min later, I found a hole in their tunnel
(so much for progress).  Needless to say EVERYTHING came out of the cage
except the litterboxes, water bottle/dish and food dish.  I tried putting a
flanel shirt in for bedding, but it was getting chewed on also, so out it
came.  Mon afternoon, I saw Katie poop out a piece of fluorescent pink
fabric (which confirmed her guiltiness).  I took the stool sample into the
vet.
 
Now, I (finally) get to my questions.  what could be wrong with her?  What
is the prognosis?  What can I do?  Should she be put to sleep?  They're
going to biopsy her liver and her stomach Thurs during surgery.  Any advice
I could get would be helpful.
 
thanks in advance
Lori (a worried momma)
Katie (momma, this nylon fabric tastes good)
Kaylin (I'm totally innocent)
[Posted in FML issue 2143]