To Pat and Perris:
 
> Also he has been diagnosed with an enlarged spleen.
>Could that be the problem?
 
        Pat - Enlarged spleens may result in lethargy in ferrets -
especially if they grow to the point where they are displacing and
compressing other organs.  In these cases - removal causes a marked increase
in the activity and attitude of affected ferrets.  First I would make sur
that there are no other problems that may be causeing the splenic
enlargement.  If your vet comes up empty, you might try a splenectomy. I
have never seen a problem in splenectomized ferrets as a result of the lack
of the spleen.  Nice to have, but not required....
 
        Just removed the spleen from one of my ferrets last week with
similar signs....now we have to seee how he improves once we remove the
stitches....
 
Bruce Williams, DVM, DACVP
Dept. of Vet Path, AFIP
[log in to unmask]  OR
Chief Pathologist, AccuPath
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[Posted in FML issue 1302]