Recently, someone posted a question about enlarged spleen in ferrets.
I have had a ferret with a HUGE spleen.  Smokey looked "round" when I
adopted him.  His age is uncertant; I was told he was about 3 years old.
I think he is older.  He stayed to himself and did not play with my
others.  I was told his cagemate had died only a short time before he
came to me and I thought he just needed time to adjust to all the
changes.
 
After 2-3 weeks, I noticed he was thinner; his hip bones were more
promenient.  He was sleeping alot and still didn't play.  When I felt his
tummy, you could feel the edges of "something" around the whole abdomen.
Off to the vet we went!  X-rays showed his spleen to wrap around the
belly and blood work showed him to be very anemic!  The vet wanted to
remove it within one week.  She said he would need two transfusions, at
least two days at the vets', and even then, she didn't know if he would
survive or if he might have some tumor she couldn't see yet.  She
wantedme to be perpared, in case there was a tumor, to decide if, at the
time of surgery, I wanted to let him go.  She was very nice but also
honest about what could happen.  The estimate for all the tests, surgery,
everything was $1200-1800.00.
 
My poor baby looked so frail!  This was early in June.  I brought him
home and, althought I had scheduled the surgery for the next week, I
cancelled it and decided to "build him up" as much as I could.  I felt
sure he would die if he had the surgery then.  I put him on NO treats but
Ferretvite and Ferretone.  Not even a raison!  H had Totally Ferret with
water or Pedialyte and some vite added.  For the first week or so it was
a blended tecture.  I got up an hour earlier every day before work and
the two of us would sit on the living room floor and a lap at a time, I
tried to get as much as possible into him.  After a while I made the
mixture mushier as Smokey got stronger.  I also had him on Amoxicillin.
Finallly, I was prepared and hoped he was too!  He had put on weight and
was showing some energy.  He even played alittle.  (That spleen was in
the way!)
 
I booked his surgery for July 1st., prayed alot, and took time off from
work to be with him for his recovery.  Off we went that morning with
Rockey and Timber, the two donors and my other two little boy "fur kids".
(I call my little ones fur kids.  I live in California, by the way.)  It
was a long day!  When I got to visit that evening, he looked so pitiful!
Wrapped in a belly bandage, I.V. in his little leg and oxygen!  Put all
the work before surgery was worth it!  He only needed 7mls. of blood
from Rocky only.  The vet stay was not quite two days.  And when he came
home he was on Amoxicillin, Flagyll and Sam-e.  He was supposed to REST.
For one day he did with the pain meds but then he was ready to GO.  He
paid little attention to the 20 staples in his tummy.  In 3-4 days he was
playing with Rocky, who seemed to know that he needed to be more gentle.
The vet said his liver had pale areas that were sent for biopsy.  This
showed infection from the same bacteria that causes humans stomache
ulcers.  He responed well and, today, is a healthly, active and happy
fellow!  His is a success story.  I think though, knowing Smokeys'
outcome and having studied this problem, he might have done well with
antibiotic treatment alone.  There is a vet in Walnut Creek, CA who
suggests this.  (I think his name is Dr. Willams.)In humans, the spleen
can become enlarged due to chronic infection as it starts to produce
white blood cells to fight infection.  I guess the same can happen in
ferrets.
 
Well, that's my story.  Antibiotics might have cured the problem and the
spleen may have then decreased in size as a result.  But it took the
surgery to identify the infection.  If your ferret is strong, I think
trying the antibiotics first would be a good idea.
[Posted in FML issue 4284]