From:
ferretkrazi
Date: 2001-12-19 11:57:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Ferret not feeling well...HELP!
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., rebecca klein <jaxy25@y...> wrote:
> I rescued Wyatt from a pet shop that had him in a
> horrible, miserable living condition. No air
> conditioning in 95 degree heat, cruddy cat food
> to eat and he was sleeping in his own waste and
> his cage was swarming with flies.
Hi there, I'm not a vet but I'm bored here at work so I did some
searching on the archives for you. :)
First of all, has this guy been to a vet for a full check-up yet?
You mentioned that he had his blood glucose checked and it was fine.
Did you have a fecal smear and fecal float done? He should be
checked for giardia, coccidia, clostridium, etc. A rescue of mine
had clostridium and had the symptoms you speak of so I guess - to
rule everything out - you should have his stool checked for stuff
that shouldn't be there.
Grinding his teeth is a sign of stomach discomfort. The first thing
that comes to my mind is ulcers BUT what else is going on with him?
Does he ever paw at his mouth after eating or just randomly? Does he
look like he has any sores in his mouth? Are his poops ever dark and
tarry looking or are they regular colored? Dark, black and tarry
stools are indicative of ulcers and you'd wanna get him on ulcer
treatment ASAP. For upset tummies, it's good to usually put the
ferret on a bland baby food diet (chicken or turkey). Your vet or
one of the vets here may even suggest carafate (sucralfate). I've
had to use it numerous times on my guys for grinding and though the
ferrets never seem to like it, it really helps them get food down if
you give it 10 - 20 minutes before the bland meal. It goes over SO
much better than the pepto! Pepto is a HATED medicine in my
household. My ferrets foam & paw at their mouths if they have to get
any. It's almost as bad as flagyl!
While searching, I also came across another possibility - a
Helicobacter infection. Dr. Williams discusses helicobacter and it's
treatment in message #5926 and also covers the topic here:
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/
Like I said, I'm not a vet. I don't have any medical training at
all, just my ferrets. :) If it was a guy that I rescued though, I
would immediately put him on a warm bland diet. Then I'd have my vet
check the feces for bacteria/protozoans, etc. If there was nothing
found there, I'd talk to the vet about treating for ulcers with the
carafate and keep him on the bland diet. If still nothing has been
resolved, I guess I would think it was a helicobacter problem and
look at the treatment for that.
Some of the posts (all from Dr. Williams) I came across discussing
helicobacter, ulcers, upset tummies, and diarrhea: #716, 3365, 3763,
5926, 6046. There were many more out there but these were really
good ones.
Hope this helped!
Sincerely,
Erin