From:
mjanke@miamiferret.org
Date: 2002-07-06 10:52:46 UTC
Subject: Spaz - sudden, unknown illness
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <6649965.1025952766969.JavaMail.root@scandium>
Friday morning as I was getting ready for work, Spaz was his normal, lively self. When I got home for lunch, he was extremely lethargic and my wife said he didn't want to eat so she had to force feed him.
I watched him for a little while and decided to call our vet and let him know we were bringing him in right away. I really thought he could be at death's door, but understand I tend to panic a bit when one of mine is ill.
My wife took him in since I had to go back to work. Our vet really couldn't find a thing. All bloodwork was normal, heart and lungs sounded good. Amazingly, even though historically his blood glucose has hovered around 70 mg/dl, it was 145 mg/dl yesterday. That's a first. They called me and asked if I thought they should do an x-ray and I had them hold off, but will probably get that done this morning since he's no better.
He eats willingly if I feed him by hand, but won't eat on his own. He won't move around at all. Just seems extremely weak. He's had a couple small bowel movements, but nothing since at least 1 a.m. last night (it's now around 7 a.m.).
I've never dealt with a hairball in a ferret, so I'm wondering if this could be what's happening. He went through a pretty heavy shed a few weeks ago. Can they form that fast? I am almost 100% positive it can't be any other type of foreign body. Spaz wouldn't eat anything that isn't his food and I even have a hard time getting him to take a treat.
Any thoughts appreciated!
mike