In response to: > From: [log in to unmask] (John Gaver (root) 713/439-5757) > Date: Wed, 1 Jun 1994 20:43:34 -0400 > Please pardon the length of this post. But we all feel that this kind of > information is important and needs to be dissiminated as widely as possible. > The Case History and an excerpt from the Pathology Report Follow. Path report deleted My ferret had a grossly enlarged spleen to the point of anemia as did Patty. His splenectomy immediately relieve the symptoms of anemia and he regained energy. At the time of the splenectomy the vet made an internal exam of organs and there was no sign of cancer. No explanation of the enlarged spleen was found. It had apparently started sequestering blood on its own. My ferret lived for another two years but died from lymphoma that had apparently invaded his pancreas and also into the linning of his stomach. I am still not convinced that the sudden enlargement of his spleen was not an early response to whatever caused the lymphoma. My second ferret followed the same course as my first a year later, only she died of lymphoma withing 6 mths of her splenectomy. She also did not show signs of cancer on an internal exam at the time of her splenectomy but at her death the lymphoma had invaded her lungs. To the vets out there. What is the thinking on a viral cause of lymphoma? Could a virus cause something like a two stage response, first fooling the spleen into sequestering healthy blood in its attempt to filter out virus bearing blood cells? Followed by some kind of reduced resistance to or induction of cancers. Max [Posted in FML issue 0853]