To Stacy Schrier: >We got him into a local vet which we have gone to once before and got a >good impression. He kept him for tests and fluids during the day today. >Tomorrow morning Grumpy is having his spleen removed. The vet also suspects >a tumor, but, can't tel l until he goes inside. The vet's only concern is >him awakening from the surgery. Stacy: If it'll help you sleep any easier - in over 95% of large spleens, there is no evidence of a tumor. Most are just a proliferation of immature red and white blood cells, usually due to inflammation somewhere else in the body. In many cases, a common stomach infection by a bacteria called Helicobacter, which almost every ferret has, is probably to blame. But make sure he sends the spleen off to be checked by a pathologist, someone who knows something about the diseases of the ferret.... Bruce Williams, DVM, DACVP Chief Pathologist, AccuPath Dept. of Veterinary Pathology [log in to unmask] Armed Forces Institute of Pathology [log in to unmask] [Posted in FML issue 1692]