From:
deevecchione@cs.com
Date: 2001-10-02 04:09:00 UTC
Subject: Neurological psychosis related to renal failure?
Hello FHL,
It's been awhile since I posted. I have a 5.5 year old gib, Teddy,
that was just diagnosed last Friday with renal failure and anemia(RBC
was 14). He was on Enacard for about 3 months(1/4 tab every other
day). I think perhaps the Enacard caused the renal complications. He
is also a little Adrenal and has had 3 Lupron shots. His mitral valve
insufficiency contraindicated surgery. Last week I also noticed tarry
stools and started him on Biaxin and Amoxi twice daily, along with
Pepcid AC. When my vet diagnosed renal failure, she said to cut the
antibiotics back to once a day. We started giving fluids (75 ml
daily) and I've been syringe feeding A/D, and baby food mixed with
electrolytes. He was doing better by Sunday and even climbed the
ferret gate for the first time in about 10 days.
Last night, all hell broke loose. I got home from work at 9 PM and
went right up. He was in his sleep sack and when I opened it, he
freaked a little. I thought I had scared him. I also noticed that his
sack was damp and thought maybe he was drooling because of low blood
sugar. I fed him right before I left for work at 10:30 AM and he
hasn't eaten on his own in over a week. I picked him up, gave him his
Pepcid AC and a dollop of Nutrical. I went down and got his food
ready, and fed him about ten minutes later. He eagerly ate about 40
ml and refused any more. I started my ferret chores and about 30
minutes later he began violently thrashing around, bouncing off of
walls, etc. I tried to pick him up and he bit me. This ferret doesn't
have a mean bone in his body and has never ever bitten me before. He
started hissing and panting, and his head started jerking about. He
became very sensitive to noise and hand movements(head shy). I have
heard about insulinoma seizures, but this was off the charts. He was
absolutely psychotic. Picture a rabid animal and you have a pretty
good idea of what was happening. I called a ferret friend who dropped
everything and drove 40 minutes to help me. The only way we were able
to pick him up was by offering him ferretone. We gave hinm 2 shots of
Dex, .5 ml of Benadryl and 75 ml of sub-q fluid. He quieted some, and
I confined him to a large carrier padded with towels for the night.
This AM he was no better. In fact, when I picked him up, he thrashed
so violently that he escaped by grasp and fell to the carpeted floor.
After that, he could no longer use his hind legs. He drug them behind
him as he tried to run away. My vet said she really didn't think that
the fall caused the problem. It was priobably going to happen anyway
as the neurological involvement progressed.
Why did this happen?
My vet feels he could have meningitis or renal-failure induced brain
swelling. This is breaking my heart! It's even harder because he does
not want to be consoled or comforted. He will eat, but when I tried
to stroke his head afterwards, he bit me again. I know he is out of
his mind, I just don't know why. At this point, with the adrenal,
heart murmur, stomach ulcers, anemia and renal failure and now these
psychotic episodes/seizures and inability to use his hind legs, I
think I need to help him cross to the bridge. We are seeing the vet
this afternoon.
Has anyone else seen this type of psychotic behavior before?
I have been sobbing all morning. I just lost one in March and now
this. My compassionate boss asked me if I could leave him alone for a
few hours and come in this afternoon. Can you believe that? How
insensitive! I was crying on the phone for God's sake. Some people
just don't understand or respect the attachment others have for their
pets.
Ferret hugs,
Dodie in NJ