Dear FML,
 
Pumpkin went to the vet today to follow up on her initial diagnosis of
insulinoma from last week.  She's been on pred and proglycem ever since,
and her BG looked good at 90 (much better than 45).
 
However, she's STILL been very lethargic, even on the meds.  I thought it
could be a heart-related issue, but my vet doesn't think so.  He noted
that her spleen was pretty big (he says that about all my ferrets), and
we did a full CBC and blood chem panel.  We didn't expect what we got:
 
very decreased WBC - 25% of the low end of the normal range for his
practice's machine
 
very decreased platelets - also 25% of the low end of the normal range
for his machine
 
very high serum ALT - nearly 4 times higher than the high end of normal
for his machine
 
Nothing else (other liver enzymes, electrolytes, other blood cells) from
today's results jumped out as being unusual.
 
Pumpkin's WBC and platelets were actually lower than Zoie's (and Zoie's
been on the Tufts chemo protocol for 4 weeks with moderate marrow
suppression.)  Pumpkin is scheduled for an exploratory/splenectomy next
week.  I think the dr. is concerned that there could be a lymphoma
festering in the spleen, but I don't see how that explains the decreased
WBC and high ALT (unless it's metastasized to the liver and caused
damage there).
 
This doesn't appear to be very consistent with any of the diseases
I've seen on the websites.  Has anyone ever had a ferret with benign
splenomegaly that presented this way?
 
John
[Posted in FML issue 5303]