From:
fur. chaos. weezilarchy.
Date: 2001-08-08 19:07:00 UTC
Subject: biscuit--a case history, update, and call for suggestions
well, biscuit, the elderly ferret who has been sick for months
is still hanging in there, but still unwell...
initial symptoms seemed to suggest stress-induced GI
ulcer--tooth grinding, pawing at mouth, etc. pepto+amox+flagyl
was given, to no effect. i think this was back in january, but
time blurs.
he went entirely off solid food, and has been eating a soup
mixture which consists primarily of ground kibble, wet iams
kitten food, and chicken w/ broth baby food ever since... his
weight has fluctuated, but has remained between 2 pounds and 1
pound 2 oz... i dont' have a scale, but right now my guess would
be right around 1 pound 6 oz.
after that, he has developed pus in his urine, and a mouth
ulcer, which was treated with cefadroxil. the ulcer cleared up,
the pus went away, but he quickly developed a nasty ear
infection.
onto otomax we went, it didn't really seem to have much
effect... the infection spread to his sinuses and affected the
eye. i put him on benadryl for the sinuses for a day or so until
i could get him to the vet--at this point we tried clavamox.
cleared the sinus thing right up, but he's lost most of the use
of the right side of his face--i think he's blind in that eye
now, and holds his head lopsided.
i think this was around the time he got *really* weak... dont'
remember for sure. he lost almost all balance and use of his
rear legs, and the doc pulled some blood... we suspected
insulinoma. dr. tudin honestly didn't think he was going to last
a week at that point, and neither did i. insulinoma results came
back negative, and *i* started taking him to work with me, so i
could feed him soup 4x a day, noon to midnight. that feeding
regimen did wonders... he gained 5 ounces, got his strength
back, and started eating his soup at feeding times out of a
saucer instead of me having to syringe-feed him.
unfortunately, i haven't been able to continue bringing him to
work with me, because i dont' have the use of my car right now,
and walking in the florida heat with his carrier would be worse
for him, i think, than less frequent feedings.
then, the pus in his urine came back. we tried baytril at this
point, and it's not cleared the urine up, although it does
seemed to have finally kicked the ear infection almost entirely.
he was absolutely refusing to eat hard kibble, but i recently
started giving him "junk food" (meow mix) in his bowl, and he
eats some of that. i still give him 4-5 oz. of soup a day,
though.
anyway, he's been on baytril, clavamox, cefadroxil,
amoxicillin... any suggestions to try and get the urinary
tract/kidney/whatever the hell it is thing for good? if a TN
panel would be likely to at least ID the source of the problem,
i'd try to collect together the funds to do it...
my current thinking is since the cefa drops cleared it up
before, to try it again. i haven't talked with my vet yet, as
their office closes at noon on weds. i'll be calling them
tomorrow (i need some advantage/frontline, and i also recently
discovered mouth cancer in one of my hedgehogs, and i'm hoping
to be able to get her looked at soon.)
please send suggestions my way (and cross your fingers for
biscuit, and the hoggle.)
-k-
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