hi all, i wrote a few months back about my angora, phoebe, and the strange pear-shape she had developed. she went to the vet and it was determined her spleen was enlarged, which isn't too uncommon in ferrets. at the time she was acting fine; eating/drinking/pooping/peeing, just not as active since her belly was getting big, while the rest of her was getting rather skinny. she went from being a hyper little spaz to being much more sedate, happy to stay in the kangaroo pocket of my hoodie instead of exploring and playing with the other kids. i've kept her in a separate single-level cage with a low hammock to keep her safer ever since this started. well, over 2 months later now since the belly definitely did seem to be getting bigger i took her back to the vet, and yes, her spleen has gotten much larger, but she is still acting fine as before, just still less active...big-big belly, and skinny body, but still eating/drinking/pooping/peeing fine (she was even thoughtful enough to poop and pee right on the doctor's scale, so they could see how normal everything looked.) we did a full cbc and labs, and now blood tests show she is terribly anemic, while her protein levels are high. a few other values are out-of-whack as well, either high or low. (if anyone wants to see the full report, let me know...i know it can be difficult to post them here and have them be legible.) nothing jumping right out at us, not making an easy diagnosis of the problem. soooo, she is on clavamox and lixotinic and is scheduled for a splenectomy on monday. there are concerns that the surgery will be high-risk due to the anemia, also that malignant hypothermia and hypotension are very real possibilities owing to her condition, as well as the unique upper respiratory structure of angoras, that ventiliating her effectively could be difficult; keeping her oxygen sats stable during surgery, so many worries. so i am very frightened that she may not make it thru surgery, if she makes it thru the weekend without her spleen rupturing. my vet is very ferret-knowledgeable; i have faith in him...he brought my pixie-doodle back from all-but-dead over 2 years ago after her accident and is open to alternative treatments, like acupuncture, and has consulted with colorado state university's vet hospital on this matter, but there are so many uncertainties and negatives at work here. the question: 'what has caused this?' has raised many questions. cancer seems unlikely as she is not even two years old, but with ferrets, always a possibility. the other unnerving possibility that occurred to me late last night (which i have discussed with the vet and he didn't think me nuts) is aplastic anemia. sound odd? well, consider...i got phoebe as a surrender at the animal shelter in november of 2010. the surrenderers claimed they got her at a pet store, and yet gave her up at less than 6 months of age. are angoras readily found at standard pet stores? would someone pay that premium price for an angora, only to abandon her mere months later? most glaringly, she has *no* tattooes, i discovered recently. so there is indeed a very strong possibility that she was from a backyard breeder and was never spayed. a horrible thought. if that turns out to be the case, she'll also be getting spayed during the splenectomy and hope she can recover from that as well...and as i've read, that can be a losing battle. so, here i am, with many questions, fears, trepidations, and worries...looking for anyone with a similar experience who might share some insight or knowledge. i have scoured the FHL and FML archives, but have seen mixed information, and most of it verrry old. hoping more-modern medicine has advanced and helped with prognoses. if anyone can offer any advice in any direction, please do. my little phoebe's too young to die so soon. i want to see my silly little fireball live out her long natural life. :-/ thanks... ~sherrie, aka daoine o' the ferret queen and the gang: burleigh, pandora, emma-wheee, ashby, sebastien, and phoebe von plume, the fluffiest ferret in the mountains over the bridge: ~missing pixie-doodle, felix, shay-shay mcweasel, max, sascha-beanhead, monty-boo, razzle, jezebel, loki, sylvi, natasha the stranger, and dweezil...my first, my one small star. [Posted in FML 7351]