From:
Pam Sessoms
Date: 2001-12-14 11:33:00 UTC
Subject: Re: [Ferret-Health-list] Corneal ulcers?
On Fri, 14 Dec 2001, mustelidmadam wrote:
> I took my ferret Timmy to the vet this morning because his eye was
> very watery and he was trying not to open it. I thought he might have
> a scratch or something in his eye that wasn't washing out. The vet
> has diagnosed Timmy with a corneal ulcer.
That sounds familiar... There was a period of time for two of my girls a
few years ago where they seemed to be getting these occasionally. I
wonder if there was something I never found in my house that they were
into at the time. It's like you said, watery, holding the eye shut, kinda
painful to light. Then the diagnosis of corneal ulcer and the ever-so-fun
ointments and drops.
> The vet said that we need to be very careful because ferrets can lose
> their eyes to this. Does anyone have experience with these? Any
> information about signs to look for that it is getting worse would be
> appreciated.
In my girls, these always healed up VERY quickly and they were far better
in only 24 hours. I've never had one get worse, so I can't really offer
advice on that. However, if you go through about 48 hours with no
improvement or a worsening, I'd call the vet. Now, one of the possible
meds given for this problem makes the eye stay dilated, so it will look
kind of weird if your guy is on that one.
> Also if there are any ideas about how or why he got it in the first
> place. I havne't found any information on them yet. Thanks.
I don't know how my girls got theirs. I just kind of chalked it up to
"weaseley" behavior, sticking their heads down between sofa cushions, digging in dirt when walked outside (or when getting into my house plants!), etc.
Now, one of these two, Sonic, did wind up going blind from retinal atrophy
several months after this. I don't know if perhaps in her case, it was an
early sign of her vision fading and so she wasn't closing her eye to
protect it from running into foreign objects. The other ferret never had
any other problems with her vision or any further corneal ulcers later.
Hope that helps!
-Pam S.