Several months ago I adopted a well cared for fixed male ferret named Sarah.
Since it was time for his shots I took him to the vet for both the shots and
a general physical.  The vet (in whom I have confidence) indicated that
Sarah had a grossly enlarged spleen and that it might have to come out in a
year or two but to not worry about it at this point.  Today I had my other
three fuzzies in for their annual checkup and Sarah came along for the ride.
The vet gave a quick look at Sarah as well since he was there and asked me
if he was dragging his hind legs.  I indicated that he was not.  Now I am
not sure I answered my vet's question correctly.
 
By way of introduction, Sarah is now almost four years old.  He is not
shaped like a svelte weasel but looks more like a pear.  He is certainly
bottom heavy.  He does sometimes drag his back legs.  I attributed that to
the fact that he is fat and lazy.  He waddles rather than walks but he can
run when he wants to, like chasing the cat time or fresh food in the bowl
time.  My questions are; is an enlarged spleen a disease in itself or a
symptom of another disease?  Is sometimes dragging his hind feet laziness,
obesity related or a real problem?  Is it time for me to panic and go back
to the vet or should I wait until he stops walking or running entirely?  Any
help will be appreciated since all my poop machines have been completely
healthy to date and I am not yet sure when I should be concerned.
 
On a lighter note, the fuzzeis live in my den.  I went in to watch TV at
3:00AM the other morning.  Normally Odo comes out of his cage immediately
to crawl up on my lap and watch TV as well, a real lap ferret :o)  After a
half hour no Odo; Baby and Chloe were out to greet me.  After an hour, still
no Odo so I decided to check the cage.  Odo was wrapped in his blanket, NOT
MOVING.  I poked the blanket and still NO MOVEMENT.  I felt the lump in the
blanket and it was COLD TO THE TOUCH and NOT BREATHING.  I was very sad that
Odo had died.  I thought before I woke up my SO to give her the bad news I
would put ODO in a nice repose so that SO could say her good-byes.  I pulled
him out of the cage and was greeted with blurry eyes and a huge yawn.  After
two years, DEAD FERRET SYNDROME struck our house again.
 
Thanks for your help.
[Posted in FML issue 2392]