Message Number: YG6115 | New FHL Archives SearchFrom: Kristine Owen
Date: Sun Aug 5, 2001 10:01am
Subject: sick ferret...need some input
Hi,
I want to put this out to everyone hoping someone may
have some valuable information that might help. I
rescued a ferret about 8 months ago. She is a 1 pound
female( that's after I put weight on her). She was
lethargic yesterday and dehydrated. I rushed her to
the vet who did a fecal test and said she has a
extremely high bacteria count, rods to be exact. She
has diarrhea also it is pure liquid consistency. She
gave her 19cc of fluid and has her on medication
called Choramphenicol to kill the bacteria and get the
diarrhea in check. She has no idea what is causing the
high bacteria in the intestines. Her isol something
count(sugar) is fine. No blockages or tumors. It
doesn't look like she has the 2 most common cancers in
ferrets. She asked if I had fed her lettuce but I had
not. Last week my sister in law had a double heart
attack and lost 1/3 of her heart. I have had a house
full of relatives. It has been chaotic lately
otherwise I might have noticed a problem sooner. She
just didn't come out to play this morning. I have
Pedalite and the high calorie vitamin paste for her
but I cannot get her to take the paste this morning.
The next step if the medication doesn't work will be
blood tests. Anyone seen anything like this? Any ideas
of a liquid food supplement. How about Ensure? I am
feeding her 5cc of Pedelite an hour through a syringe.
She looked better last night but looks lethargic again
this morning. Thanks for any ideas you might have
this. Kristine in Gilbert AZ
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