From:
cobalt ciar
Date: 2001-04-17 20:51:00 UTC
Subject: symptoms, but no diagnosis
Hello, relatively new to the list, and not sure if I have the
format/info down pat, but here goes:
Recently, we got a new ferret, totally healthy young fixed male. In the
process of introducing him to my other 3 girls, one of the girls,
Azrael, became what appeared to be quite depressed.
This was about 2 weeks ago. On Thursday, I noticed that she had lost
weight, and was not playing much at all even when the new guy was put
away. Over the weekend, I watched her carefully--she began digging all
of her food out of her dish, and pooping very frequently--poops only
about a third of what she had done normally. The texture of her fecal
matter is very mucousy, more like a smear of matter rather than
anything resembling solidness. To me, her feces has a tinge of deep
green, but the vet didn't find the color unusual, and I have never seen
ECE feces, so I can't say for sure on that.
I wasnt able to observe if she was drinking regularly, but I did notice
her shivering and seeking out warm places to hide (usually my underwear
drawer! :-)
I took her to the vet today, and nothing conclusive was diagnosed--I
had taken a fresh fecal sample as well, and no parasites showed up.
Xrays were taken, to rule out a blockage, and everything looked
fine--there was no excessve gas bubbles present, and all the organs
that could be discerned looked fine.
She has lost weight--from 1.6 pounds to 1.4 pounds, and she FEELS
skinny, like her spine and ribs are sticking out.
The vet gave SQ fluids, and prescribed .05 ml of antibiotics (Albon
suspension 5%) twice a day, plus 10 ccs of a/d every 4 hours.
I hope this is enough info for suggestions...my vet is great, but I
don't think she has handled too many ferrets, so any and all info I can
get would be great.
Also, I have a question specifically for the vets, unrelated to the
above situation with Azrael: Do you appreciate when your clients do
research about their sick animals, and make suggestions to you, or is
it more of a case of "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing"?
I ask because I am a little uncomfortable with asking my vet to run
specific tests if she hasnt suggested them. The whole "stepping on
toes" thing...
-cobalt
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Auctions - buy the things you want at great prices
http://auctions.yahoo.com/