From:
Pam Sessoms
Date: 2001-10-10 14:58:00 UTC
Subject: Weird bladder thing, hind end weakness
Hey all,
I hate to keep coming on for advice, but we're seeing something kind of
odd with my sweet old ferret Sonic. She is 8 and has been getting more
"frail" for a couple of years. She is blind and also has insulinoma, but
it is stable and she is on pred.
She has been kind of "moany and groany" in her sleep for a few months and
shows some arthritic changes on her x-rays. She's also become more and
more weak in the hind end, very gradually. Now, often on slick surfaces,
she can't get her hind feet under her at all and paddles with her legs
looking very abnormally out to the back and sides. Sometimes she can get
up and walk semi-normally. She does better on carpet. We gave her a long
course of Cosequin (glucosamine/chondroitin) and didn't see any
improvements. Now we're trying Adequan shots, but we're only two weeks
into it now. X-rays show a very minor amount of bridging between some
vertebrae, but nothing else of note.
OK, so that probably all sounds pretty generic for non-specific hind end
weakness often seen in sick ferrets. The latest development is that she
seems to be unable to tell when she needs to urinate. She holds her urine
and only pees once or twice a day, in tremendously huge puddles. Huge!!
It is kind of dilute, but it's been like for ages (possibly from the
pred), and her kidney blood values are fine. I don't think she's blocked.
She does not run around and strain, she just doesn't try to go very often.
Today my vet showed me how to express bladders, so I will probably have to
start doing that. It was dangerously full today at the vet's office.
For a little while (month or two?), she has been usually not making it to
the papers for pooping. She just poops wherever she happens to be,
including while she's eating kibble. She has not pooped in her sleep,
however. Poop is completely normal.
Her bloodwork is all within normal range besides some pointers to mild
dehydration (mild elevations in hemoglobin, hematocrit, and protein).
She had a fairly nasty UTI awhile back and that responded to antibiotics
and has not returned. She had a normal ECG a few days ago, but her heart
is a bit enlarged on x-rays. I know the heart may be causing her
weakness, but I've never heard of it causing the peeing and pooping issues
we're seeing with her.
My vet mentioned she seems fairly similar to a dog with degenerative
myelopathy, but neither of us have ever heard of a ferret with this
problem. Ideas? We know we could do some more invasive tests to look at
the spinal cord more closely, but if nothing it could be is really
treatable, I'm not sure I want to do it. But I could be swayed if there
is a chance we may be able to do something. Also, she goes diabetic on
increased pred, so throwing more of that at it won't really work out for
her. :-(
Sorry this is so long, and thanks for any help or similar cases!
-Pam S.