From:
Caitlyn Martin
Date: 2002-09-30 21:16:10 UTC
Subject: Recovery from anaphylactic reaction in an older ferret (LONG)
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-Id: <20020930171610.7d0376a8.whiteweasel@earthlink.net>
Hi, everyone,
My apologies for the length of this post. I wanted to get all relevant
medical data in.
Podo, one of my eight year olds, had his rabies vaccination 10 days ago.
He had a severe anaphylactic reaction: almost everything in his system
came out immediately and then he promptly collapsed. His skin and
mucous membranes turned bright red and his face/head swelled up. He was
treated with benadryl, dexamethasone, epinepherine, and oxygen and was
sent home five hours later, weak but seemingly on the mend.
Podo's medical history: no major medical problems we know of until age
seven and a half. In the past six months he had a right adrenalectomy
(with vena cava ligation), insulinoma surgery, and his heart stopped for
nearly two minutes during the recovery from that second surgery. He
recovered well and was bouncing around like a kit after that. He has no
previous history of reactions to any vaccination.
Here's the problem: Podo still hasn't recovered. He has a good
appetite, but he still has very little energy. He's lost 78 grams since
the vaccination despite eating well. His gums remain quite red and his
skin and nose still have a somewhat reddish tint. He's been having
sneezing fits which our vet attributes to sloughing of nasal membrane
that was killed off when he was so swollen. Our vet checked him on
Saturday and found that his lungs were clear: no swelling and no fluid.
His blood glucose has remained perfectly normal. We're in watching and
waiting mode. Our vet will recheck him on Wednesday.
My questions: how long should it take an older ferret like Podo to
recover from a reaction like this? Are there any long term consequences
for an older ferret from an anaphylactic reaction? Is there anything
else we can/should be doing to help him recover?
Any information and ideas to pass on to our vet would be gratefully
appreciated.
Caity and the worried weasels