From:
Karen Purcell, DVM
Date: 2001-07-01 19:08:00 UTC
Subject: Re: [Ferret-Health-list] Possible ulcers and inflammatory
bowel
You wrote:
> I would greatly appreciate input on a health situation involving my only fe=
> rret. Boogie Bear is a 5 year old neutered, descented male. Apart from se=
> veral mast cell tumors in the past he has been very healthy. I feed him To=
> tally 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 lo=
> st 1 1/2 oz. She did not palpate any masses or adrenal enlargement. His t=
> eeth and moth looked alright. There is no hair loss. Temp was normal. Ur=
> inalysis showed nothing. Standard blood panel did not show anything of con=
> cern to the vet. She said we could proceed with an Adrenal panel but it is=
> very expensive
>
Hey, did she check a fecal sample?
> 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 alread=
> y: Globulin and Lipase. He also talked about a biopsy to test for bowel in=
> flammatory 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 h=
> as not touched it.
>
> In the last couple months I have been taking him ouside on a leash which h=
> e likes. There is a hole in the front yard that may have belonged to a mol=
> e or something else. Boogie liked to dig in it when we were outside. Coul=
> d he have gotten infected from the surroundings of some other animal?=20
>
> 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 di=
> dn't seem to care for any that we met at the shelter. I spend a lot of tim=
> e with him, but wonder if it's enough.
With the death in the family and the dark sticky stools, I'd wonder
about gastric ulcers here. But with the exposure outdoors,
definitely check a fecal, maybe more than once. Add amoxi to his
current protocol, and you'd be treating for Helicobacter :-), may be
worth a try.
Just my $0.02,
-Dr. Karen
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