Belly Lump

[Mandy1]

Hi,

my baby girl has a lump in her belly and sometimes, over the past 2 weeks, I can feel her bottom rib bone sticking out. She is very lethargic and didnt want to come out of her cage to play last night, although her sister was leaping about like a lunatic.
We visited the emergency vet last night and got an ultrasound, they gave her a painkiller and sent her home.

So we took her to our regular vet this morning and they were doing an X ray. they have just called and told me there is a lump and they are doing exploratory surgery. The problem is that in Australia Ferrets are not common and vets dont seem to know a lot about them.

Has anyone else had a similar situation with their little one? What was the cause? how was it fixed?

I am worried sick.

[Mandy1]

Ok guys, so Leci has had a surgery to remove her spleen. Apparently it was 3 times its normal size. She is now in recovery and will stay at the vet for the weekend.
She is going to be OK ?

[bitbyter]

They can live without their spleens. Not sure if they need supplemental meds or not. Did they ever discover why her spleen was enlarged? Normally there is an underlying cause.

[unclejoe]

I'm glad she's ok, but as bitbyter said, there is usually a reason for the spleen to enlarge. Sometimes it's minor things, but 3x normal is concerning.

[Heather]

Did you get the spleen biopsied? Knowing why the spleen was that large might help a lot. You didn't mention how old your ferret was, this too might have some bearing. Where are you in Australia? We have some Aussie members who might be able to help you find a ferret knowledgeable vet
ciao

[Deleted]

Give little Leci a big hug and tell her that I hope she feels better soon.

Thérèse is in Australia. I tagged her and maybe she can suggest some help.

[Thérèse]

If I had a vague idea where you were I could maybe help you find a good vet (Australia is kind of big and so Darwin is a long way from Hobart which is nowhere near Cairns etc.). I do know of some vets that are not in my area, so even if you are no where near me I may know one. Often a good way to find a vet is too get in contact with the local ferret society. Those with websites sometimes even have aboard on their website for members to recommend vets (like here) so you may not even need to contact them (sometimes getting in contact with them can be aprocess in itself).

Hope Leci is doing well and yes my concern would be to know why the spleen was enlarged.