From:
Pam Sessoms
Date: 2001-03-02 07:19:00 UTC
Subject: Re: [Ferret-Health-list] Chemical Breath?
Dawn,
*I'm NOT NOT NOT a vet*
> Just a quick question, Has anyone ever experienced a chemical odor
> such as nail polish remover coming from there fuzzies breath? My Tazy
> has lymphosarcoma and for the last week or so I've been smelling this
> odor coming from his breath!!!!
I'm not trying to panic you, BUT... That nail polish remover smell could
be acetone. This can be a very serious sign that something called
ketoacidosis is going on. I don't know enough about it to guess how it
could be related to the lymphosarcoma, but ketoacidosis is a very serious
complication of diabetes.
My ferret Sonic had this kind of smell about her breath when she went
temporarily diabetic after being on pred and diazoxide for insulinoma...
If he's been on prednisone, esp high doses, for the lymphosarcoma, I guess
there is some chance that the pred has caused the very unusual
complication of inducing diabetes...
Again, I'm no vet, but I think you might want to get Tazy to a vet ASAP
for a blood sugar test and a urinalysis... If it is ketoacidosis, it's a
true emergency.
Hoping this is NOT it!!!
-Pam S.
There is a snippet about ketoacidosis at:
http://www.peteducation.com/cats/cat_diabetes_dx.htm