From:
Karen Purcell, DVM
Date: 2001-07-03 19:24:00 UTC
Subject: Re: [Ferret-Health-list] very ill ferret, please help
Stephanie,
You wrote:
> My 5 1/2 year old neutered male became very depressed with the loss of our =
> 8 1/2 year old female. A week ago Thurs night (6/24) he became lethargic, =
> vomited once, and has had seedy (sometimes green) diarrhea. My vet (the on=
> ly ferret knowledgeable vet in the area) thinks that he has helicobactor. =
> She also wants to do adrenal surgery because he has a bald tail. She think=
> s the anorexia and diarrhea could be in part to adrenal tumors. His bald t=
> ail is the only symptom he has ever shown of adrenal tumors. My gut feelin=
> g is not to do surgery, so at this point I am not going to proceed with tha=
> t route. Currently he is on Amoxi-drops 1/2 ml BID, metronidazole 0.2 ml B=
> ID (when I can get it down him), chlorphenicol 0.48 ml BID, carafate 1/8 ta=
> blet 3-4 times daily before feeding. I force feed him a mixture of A/D, ch=
> icken baby food, pedialyte and Ferretvite every 4 hours. He is drinking on=
> his own when I offer it. We ran a complete blood profile (CBC, Chem 20) a=
> nd a Urinalysis last week. Besides being slightly dehydrated at the time, =
> the results were within normal limits. I am at a loss of what to do next. =
> If anyone has any suggestions please let me know, I am not ready to loose =
> him.
And in addition,
I just posted about the ill ferret. I forgot to mention, he
frequently gri= nds his teeth (why we are using carafate). His
stomach also is almost alwa= ys gurgling (sp?). He sounds miserable.
It can get very loud at times. T= hanks in advance if anyone can
help.=20
It certainly sounds suspicious for Helicobacter/ulcerative
gastritis. Did you do a fasting blood sugar to rule out insulinoma?
It can cause similar signs, though stress-induced ulcers are pretty
common under these circumstances.
The carafate coats the stomach so eating is less painful. The
amoxi and metronidazole kill the Helicobacter bacteria. You might try
a strictly baby food chicken diet, as being bland and less
irritating.
Hope this helps,
-Dr. Karen
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