Cindy and Baby, Although splenectomy is an abdominal surgery it is straight forward. When isoflurane is used for anesthesia the ferrets wake up quickly after surgery and can usually go home the same night (if surgery is performed early) or the next day. Post operatively we recommend limited activity for 7 days (don't encourage playing and seperate the ferret that had surgery for at least 2-3 days). When the patient comes home it is usually best to feed in small amounts 3-4 times a day for the first day or two. Suture removal in 10-14 days. The potential complications include bleeding (usually within the first 24 hrs.), infection (within first 48-72 hrs.). Warning signs indicating complications include gums that are pale (rather then pink), poor appetite, lethargy, swellins or inflamation at suture line. I would like to reinforce a point that Dr. Williams and myself have made before about early signs of adrenal disease. I did surgery on a patient today who had hair loss on his tail and on his back (above the tail) one year ago. It was not a big concern to the vet or client because with time the hair grew back again. This year when the hair loss came back they brought him into see me. Today I did surgery and we found an adrenal tumor, a splenic tumor and a liver tumor. Fortunately the liver tumor involved only one of the six liver lobes and we were able to remove the liver lobe, spleen and one adrenal gland. The biopsy results are not back yet but I suspect the tumor started in the adrenal gland and spread to the spleen and liver. The only reason I mention this is to reinforce how important it is to know the symptoms of the common diseases and in the case of adrenal tumors it is critical to remove them when the symptoms are present and not wait and see. Adrenal tumors are by far the most common disease that causes hair loss in the ferret. If there is hair loss or thinning in the ferret it is usually recommended to do surgeryn to diagnose and treat the problem. If the hair loss is exclussively involving the tail it could be seasonal hair loss and surgery is not recommended (unless other symptoms of adrenal tumors are present). Other symptoms include iItchy skin, swollen vulva (females), return to sexual male behavior (in neutered males). By the way our patient that had surgery today is doing just fine. Dr. Weiss [log in to unmask] 301-299-4142 [Posted in FML issue 1078]