From:
ahinton
Date: 2001-07-01 16:00:00 UTC
Subject: Possible ulcers and inflammatory bowel disease
Hello to all group members,
I would greatly appreciate input on a health situation
involving my only ferret. Boogie Bear is a 5 year old
neutered, descented male. Apart from several mast cell tumors
in the past he has been very healthy. I feed him Totally
Ferret. About one month ago I started to notice some changes:
Urinating and defecating on carpet where he did not before
Eating less
Drinking less
Irregular stools, sometimes dark and sticky
Less active
When awake, more "nervous"
Lip smacking (like he has something in his mouth when he
doesn't)
Watery eye(s)
I took him to my vet who sees a lot of ferrets. In the past
week he has lost 1 1/2 oz. She did not palpate any masses or
adrenal enlargement. His teeth and moth looked alright.
There is no hair loss. Temp was normal. Urinalysis showed
nothing. Standard blood panel did not show anything of
concern to the vet. She said we could proceed with an Adrenal
panel but it is very expensive
I consulted with another vet today (at a Ferret function in my
city) and he mentioned that two other blood tests should be
done if they haven't already: Globulin and Lipase. He also
talked about a biopsy to test for bowel inflammatory disease.
He did not palpate any adrenal enlargement either.
I have been feeding him A/D for the past two days and my vet
has prescribed Metronidazole liquid .2ML twice daily. The
other medication is Carafate .3cc's three times daily.
He eats the A/D as long as I mix it with water and give it to
him out of a syringe. I bought some Hills ZD (also
recommended by the vet) but Boogie has not touched it.
In the last couple months I have been taking him ouside on a
leash which he likes. There is a hole in the front yard that
may have belonged to a mole or something else. Boogie liked
to dig in it when we were outside. Could he have gotten
infected from the surroundings of some other animal?
His buddy Little One died in February (she was only 4) and
I've wondered if it's been harder on him (added stress)
without a friend... although he didn't seem to care for any
that we met at the shelter. I spend a lot of time with him,
but wonder if it's enough.
If there are any other ideas about what may be going on I
would love the input.
Thanks everyone,
Alisa & Boogie