From:
Mohr
Date: 2002-11-30 10:25:16 UTC
Subject: rectal bleeding
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-Id: <5.1.1.6.0.20021129233656.00ba3ea0@pop.central.cox.net>
At 10:34 PM 11/29/2002 -0500, you wrote:
> > Please, by all means, consider yourself extraordinary. :-)
ABSOLUTELY! This is the main reason I think my vet is so extraordinary, as
well. She takes much more time than "necessary" with us, she is there for
us when we need her, even at home in the middle of the night, and she
genuinely *cares for* her patients and their owners. THAT's the kind of
vet every vet should be!
-Natasha
To: <ferrethealth@smartgroups.com>, <rekdvm@flash.net>,
"Sandy Adams" <wftxserx@worldnet.att.net>, <teckart@oznet.ksu.edu>,
<Ferrethealer@aol.com>, <mjanke@miamiferret.org>, <williamsdvm@comcast.net>
From: "Steve & Becky McMall" <mcmall@intellisys.net>
Message-ID: <002201c2985a$c8575380$5f3bf340@D7Y35H11>
I am hoping that someone will have some ideas of what could cause repeate=
d rectal bleeding in an otherwise normal, healthy female 5 year old ferret.=
=
Shadow eats,drinks,plays, poops,ect, completely normally. But for the th=
ird time yesterday, she had blood from the rectum (there was vomit nearby w=
ith no blood, just thin looking light brown foodish). =
The first two times were in the bottem of the cage on newspaper, and looked=
like a lot of blood. We had taken her to the vet after the first time(she=
acted a bit listless that morning) and he didn't know what could be wrong,=
thought perhaps she had ruptured a blood vessel in her lower intestinal re=
gion or something. The second time (two weeks later), she was unfazed, an=
d acted herself after bleeding. There was 2 to three weeks between each su=
ccessive episode.
This time, I found her on the floor pretty much unresponsive. We rushed h=
er the 30 miles to the only vet we have found nearby who seems to know any=
thing about ferrets here in SW Oklahoma (he knows enought to be able to do =
emergency surgery for blockage on a friend's ferret). Her gums were not pa=
le, but we still had put some caro syrup on them (turns out honey is better=
?) thinking she might be in shock or low in sugar. When Steve picked her u=
p, she had a small bit of bleeding rectally and we found a few spots later =
on the floor. =
I have been thinking partial blockage, but the vet says that she wouldn't=
have normal poops or be eating normally. He said that a sonagram or x-ray=
may not show that. He said he had done some reading up on it, and it coul=
d be caused by 3 things: lymphoma, of which he says there is nothing that =
can be done; insulinoma; or an ulcer or infection in the lower intestine. =
She responded after about 15 or 20 minutes to a few cc's of oral dextrose =
and was moving around again. In the car on the way there, she would only l=
ift her head and move a couple of times. The vet had tried to get blood fr=
om her neck vein but it kept rolling out of the way or something. He didn'=
t want to stress her more than necessary and since she was coming around a =
bit, gave us a bottle of dextrose, and suggested that we bring her back whe=
n she was stronger (and didn't have dextrose in her) for some blood work. =
She still wasn't acting up to speed on the way home and after moving aroun=
d once or twice, settled for lying on on my lap in the towel that I had wra=
pped in a thermacare. Oh, she was drinking water from a cup and from a fin=
ger after he had given her the dextrose.
Any ideas at all? Any suggestions for the vet? Seems like if it were a =
botched spay job she would have done this before now, after she is five yea=
rs old. She isn't losing weight and had gained an ounce between the first=
visit and now. (We weigh all our seven ferrets each month) The vet had t=
hought that her lymph nodes in her neck and behind her front legs seemed sw=
ollen, but they seem a bit like they always have to me, cause she is a plum=
p little girl. =
We would be grateful for any ideas at all. Thanks for taking the time to=
read this. Steve and Becky =
End of ferrethealth Digest
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