From:
Brett Middleton
Date: 2001-04-09 12:26:00 UTC
Subject: Re: gagging ferret, more info
"Renee Rider" <riderr@m...> wrote:
> Someone asked if she gagged when she was given the duck soup. Thats
> the odd thing. She doesn't. I've only seen it when she drinks
> water. And, to my knowledge, only when she drinks water.
I had a very similar problem that went on for many months, and still
don't have a satisfactory answer. Pogey didn't have quite as extreme a
reaction as your video shows -- only an occasional gag, without any
pawing. Instead, she would take a few licks, mildly grind her teeth
for a while (almost noiselessly), and repeat. She only did it when
drinking water, and she became more and more averse to drinking on her
own. For a while I could get her to drink by putting my hand in the
water bowl, or by offering her a glass that I was drinking from. But,
eventually she demanded to be put up on the counter by the sink while I
let the water slowly trickle over my hand. (Talk about spoiled!)
We checked her teeth very carefully a couple of times -- no problem.
Numerous blood glucose tests came up normal -- no insulinoma. Twice we
gave her a course of helicobacter treatment just in case, though she
had no ulcer symptoms. I tried varying the water temp and using
bottled water, without effect. I don't have her necropsy report yet,
but I've been told that there was no inflammation or ulceration in the
GI tract.
Sorry I can't provide more insight on this for you, but it sure helps
to know that the problem isn't totally unique. The one thing I would
suggest is to watch carefully for dehydration -- if she's uncomfortable
drinking water, then she probably isn't drinking enough.
Brett
*SLMW 1.0* My wisdom is legendary. Uh, or did I mean "mythical"?