Dear Kurt and Sara:
 
>We're hoping that maybe Dr. Williams can help us out here.  One of our
>adoptees died in his sleep this morning, and the necropsy showed that he
>had a collapsed lung, bruising on the skin of the abdomen, and lots of
>little bleeding spots in his fatty tissue.  Our vet says it's a platelet
>abnormality, probably caused by immune system problems.  The family has
>two other ferrets, but the vet said it almost certainly wasn't contagious.
>I'm going to talk to them tonight about whether there are any poisons in
>the apartment that he might have gotten into, as rat poison was mentioned
>as another possible cause, but any other information would be helpful.
>He was a 4 year old neutered male, not Marshall Farms.
 
I am hopeful that tisues were sent off for autopsy.  Depending on how long
between death and autopsy, the air in the lungs can be absorbed by the
body, resulting in the appearance of collapsed lungs.  Generally, lungs
collapse when something else takes up space in the chest, such as fluid
(from heart disease) or a large mass (such as lymphoma).  Lungs generally
don't collapse on their own (except if the chest wall is punctured by a
wound.) Small bleeding spots in the fat can also appear as a postmortem
finding of no clinical significance.  The one change that you mentioned
that is generally not seen at death is brusing of the abdominal skin.  I
would look closely in the abdomen, as bruising in the skin may be a result
of intra-abdominal hemorrhage.
 
In cases of true hemorrhage, I often consider Aleutian disease, which may
result in clotting problems, and a bone marrow examination is a requisite
test for any ferret in which clotting abnormalities are suspected.  We can
rarely see bone marrow abnormalities as a result of hyperestrogenism from
adrenal disease.  Rat poison, warfarin, is a Vit K.  inhibitor, and usually
manifests as major hemorrhages into body cavities and joint spaces, rather
than cutaneous hemorrhages.  Finally, any severe bacterial infection may
lead to a syndrome of clotting abnormalities known as DIC (diseminated
intravascular coagulation) - which is luckily rare in ferrets.
 
As you can tell, the cause of clotting defects in ferrets is varied and
requires careful investigation - I am hopeful that an answer can be found
in this ferrets unexpected demise.
 
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, DVM
[Posted in FML issue 3191]