Message Number: YG8366 | New FHL Archives Search
From: Debbie Utter
Date: 2001-11-02 12:11:00 UTC
Subject: Behavior change (aggression to other pets) - is he in pain
now?

I want to thank everyone who has emailed me with suggestions
on how to administer the tablets. I'm mixing each ground-up
dose with a small dab of Nutri-Cal. Brae still knows it's
been "tainted," but the med is going down much better.

I have a problem, though. It's been three days since Brae was
prescribed metoclopramide 10mg (1/4 tablet orally every six
hours, 3-4x a day) for vomiting (which I need to give half an
hour prior to other meds or meals) and Neomycin/Pepto (a
dropper full of every 8 hours, 3x/day, for 5 days). Despite
the challenge working out a round-the-clock schedule around
sleep (what's that?) and work, I'm not satisfied that Brae's
condition has improved much. He is listless, is ready to curl
up and sleep after his meals, vomited last night, and just is
not feeling good. He's been turning his nose up at his food,
too - I need to water it down pretty thin and/or offer it on a
spoon. His appetite was great until earlier this week. Even
more disturbing is his behavior: he is now aggressive toward
the other ferrets, and even nipped at our dog twice this
morning at the water bowl - a first! He has always gotten
along with the other ferrets, and now he will out-of-the-blue
pounce on them - he's not playing, either! Is there any
possibility that he is reacting to the medication? Is the
aggressive behavior a sign that he is in pain?

I called the vet hoping to get an appointment for this
afternoon or tomorrow morning, but both exotic vets were out
until Monday. Now all I can do is watch him closely this
weekend, and if he isn't improved by Monday, call for an
appointment. The vet's plan is to do another
barium/xray/bloodwork (another $200) - we did all that before
his spleen removal, so I'm discouraged to have to repeat it.
There's no way I'll tell my family how much I've spent already
on Brae ($500) - they just wouldn't understand. It's a
FERRET! Hey, I'm having a hard time spending this much - it's
not a good time right now for something like this. I guess
it's so discouraging because Brae has been sick for about 8
weeks now, and $500 later, he's had his spleen removed (which
did improve things a bit), but something still has him not
keeping his food down.

When the time comes, how do I go about getting him back on
whole, dry kibble? Could I be spoiling him by grounding his
food up and wetting it down? He will NOT eat baby food, and I
haven't even tried Hills A/D or any of the other specialty
foods. I doubt he'll touch it, so he's on a pretty limited
diet.

Sorry for the length of this post. If anyone has any ideas at
all on what this could possibly be, let me know and I'll pass
them along to my vet. Some suggestions from this list have
been an ulcer, megaesophagus, an ongoing infection, etc. The
vet did the above medicine route (the easiest) hoping for the
best. He thought possibly that the large spleen that was
removed (it was 3-4 times the size it should have been) had
adhered itself to the stomach, and he thinks perhaps there are
adhesions from where the spleen was removed that are still
bothering him. Does that make sense? Will an ultrasound be a
waste of time/money if the bloodwork/xray/barium doesn't show
anything? Would exploratory surgery be a way to go?

Thanks for all your help. My vet resources are rather
limited, and I can't be sure just how much my current vet
knows about the more serious ferret stuff - I just want to be
as armed as I can if this keeps going!