From:
"anneinchicago"
Date: 2002-12-04 07:54:53 UTC
Subject: Bleeding from Left Ear
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
I apologize in advance for any rudeness or abruptness in this post. I
am frantic and have no clue where to turn.
Bear is a year old sable male, neutered and descented. His shots
are current. No other illness. Light case of ear mites (everyone has
it-well, not me, but :-)
Sunday morning I saw him swaying in the middle of the living room
floor. I snapped my fingers and called to him. He barely responded.
When he walked, he was staggering.
We rushed him to the emergency vet. I trust these people implicitly.
They are very ferret knowledgeable. one of the partners having an
exotic practice of her own.
I was told Bear had a possible ruptured eardrum and an ear
infection, one possibly being the cause of the other. They also said
he was bleeding in the ear, which I hadn't noticed.
They did blood tests and ruled out insolumioa (sp)
Sent me home with Baytil- .05cc- by mouth once a day for 10 days
and Gentocin = 2 drops- every day, twice a day.
I was told to see my regular vet if he seemed worse or in two days.
I thought he was worse- the bleeding had increased- and took him to
my vet. This clinic had had a ferret knowledble vet, but apparently
not anymore.
I won't go into it, but the upshot was they told me to go elsewhere.
He is still staggering and seems disoriented. He is having trouble
eating. I can't tell if it hurts or if he is so disoriented he can't really
find it. Same for water. His ear is still bleeding and appears to be
painful.
I am giving him the meds. I have him in a separate cage from the
others. I am giving him water by mouth, chicken soup broth and AD
at least twice a day. He is not dehydrated.
I have never heard of ear bleeding in ferrets and would like advice
and opinions before seeing the new vet on Thursday (including if I
should wait that long). I like to be prepared when seeing the vet, to
be able to ask intelligent questions. I also want to make sure their
isn't another possibility, one that would make taking him in to the vet
sooner.
Could there0 be another cause other than infection? My kids are
free-ranging and haven't had any accidents before, but could this
have been caused by a fall instead?
Thank you for taking the time to answer.