From:
Christine Bertch
Date: 2001-06-30 21:25:00 UTC
Subject: Please help--bleeding sore in mouth
Hello everyone,
We discovered a small laceration on the top of the inside of our
ferret Benji's mouth last night. We found it because he was bleeding off
and on from the mouth--very scary. He has also had the dark, tarry stools
indicative of his swallowing the blood. We took him to the vet this morning
and his PCV was checked and it was 44--I guess that is pretty good. We took
him home and haven't noticed much bleeding (except for seeing his
stools--which still look very dark) until about 1/2 hour ago he was bleeding
again. It isn't much, but it's what I can't see, what he may be swallowing
that really concerns me.
A reason this is such a problem is that Benji is over 8 years old
and has insulinoma--he's been on a low level of Pred for 2 years now. I'm
sure this is definitely having an effect on the healing process of this
sore. He only eats a liquid diet (I can't figure out how he could have cut
himself in the first place) and though I don't see any increase in bleeding
after eating, we're feeding him less often to give the sore more chance to
heal. I just don't know how long to let this continue. He's eating well
and his energy level is still pretty good, but for how long? And what can
be done for a tiny sore in the mouth?? I need some advice, please, on what
I can do. The emergency vet is 45 minutes away and I hate to stress Benji
again today, but I will if I have to.
Thanks,
Christine and Benji