Hi- I'm wondering if someone out there might recognize some of the
serious symptoms our Peanut is having.  She is 6 yrs old, pretty healthy-
has been slowing down a tad as she ages, but it seems normal.  She did
have adrenal surgery last Dec.  and they removed one adrenal gland.  She
immediately grew all her hair back and recovered very well.
 
Yesterday morning I noticed that she was walking funny- it was so
subtle at first I almost didn't catch it.  But as I watched, she'd walk
normally, but every once in awhile one or the other of her back legs kept
kind of collapsing and she would either kind of trip and keep going or
flop over on her side and lay there for a second.  Then she would get up
and walk a little and it would happen again.  It didn't seem to slow her
down though; in fact, she was more active than she usually is- she
wouldn't stay in one place.  I tried to get her attention with her
favorite toys, but she had no interest in them or treats.  She kept
scurrying around the room and doing weird things (that made me think
maybe she had a neurological problem)- she would walk into a corner of
the room and just sit there with her nose squished in the corner and then
if I poked at her, she'd get up and go to another corner in the room and
do the same thing... She had no vomiting, diarhhea, pawing at the mouth,
or any other symptoms (I checked her legs- no apparent pain or injury).
 
I finally put her in the cage where she drank some water.  she took an
active interest in her food bowl- sniffing it a lot, but didn't eat.  She
then lied down and shoved her head under her bed, which was in the corner
by the litter box and just sat there with her head under it.  That was
NOT normal.  I nudged her and she moved but then was still and looked
like she was drifting off to sleep- more and more lethargic.  When I
tried to rouse her I got no response- eyes half open, no movement.  Tried
repeatedly with same result.  Then her head started shaking a little, and
that really scared me so I rushed her to the vet.
 
They immediately tested her blood sugar- I thought maybe insulinoma- and
it was fine.  She had a slight (like by .2) temperature and was lethargic
except when they tried to draw blood- she struggled.  But then she just
became more and more droopy.  They left me alone with her for a few
minutes and I put her in her carrier.  She started running around in
circles and I thought maybe she had to poop, but AS she was still running
she lost her bladder and peed everywhere (could've been stress, I guess).
They put an IV in her to get her hydrated and on some preventative
antibiotics; the ultrasound and blood tests say she has an enlarged
spleen, liver, and possibly an enlarged adrenal gland or lymph node, hard
to tell.  They didn't see any blockages of any kind.  By last night she'd
eaten some kibble - when we visited her she was a little more alert than
before, but mostly just wanted to curl up and sleep.  The vet put her on
some steroids (in case it's a tumor or lymphoma, I think) & says she can
only guess without more tests.  She is a very good ferret dr. by the way,
used by some people on this list who know a lot about ferrets.  (Adobe
Animal Hospital-Dr. O'Day).  She said with this liver and spleen it could
be cancer, an infection or an auto-immune problem.  Other tests showed
Peanut had slight anemia (red blood cells 25), and very elevated liver
enzymes, as well as low blood proteins, all of which she said could be
caused by cancer or something else.
 
We called again at 10pm and they said she was a little more alert and
eating again- she had pooped and peed as well and was sleeping a lot.
The vet said if she weren't so weak she would be willing to do
exploratory surgery to see what's going on, but not in the state she's
in now.  She said she would do a liver aspiration with a needle and get
some cells to biopsy that way, which might tell us more - we won't have
results til this afternoon.  As far as the neuro symptoms go she said it
could be due to an infection of some sort, meningitis is a possibility,
but she's not sure without more info.  This morning her fever is gone;
she had 1 bout of diarhhea overnight but has otherwise been pooping
normally and eating.  Vet says she's more alert today than yesterday.
 
I don't have a lot of hope for her.  She's getting old, but up until now
has been so active and pretty healthy that this is a shock- it happened
so fast.  I have the same feeling I had the night that our Scooter spent
at the vet's where they said he was doing okay but then died the next day
suddenly.  I didn't have a good feeling about it all night.  Except this
time they have even more information that just doesn't look good.  I
think the result is either going to be that we do surgery to look around
and take some stuff out-- or... I don't know what, if she's not strong
enough for that.  I was just thinking the other day how I am really not
over Scooter's death yet - I've just kind of pushed it to the back of my
mind- and this is just really really hard...
 
If anyone knows anything, pleases let me know as soon as you can- I think
my vet is good, but I know between all of you, you have seen practically
everything, so I am hoping someone might know something.
 
thanks so much,
Jaime
[Posted in FML issue 4233]