From:
nicole@mb-law.com
Date: 2002-07-24 21:56:04 UTC
Subject: IBD BIOPSY WITHOUT SURGERY??
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <8930748.1027547764940.JavaMail.root@scandium>
I thought I remembered reading a previous post, possibly by Dr.Williams, which referred to an IBD biopsy via aspirate - or something similar. I searched but could not find a post, so perhaps I'm crazy. But, my question concerns Snidely, who is 3.5 and losing A LOT of weight in a short time. He acts like he has something in his mouth, though I don't ever see him pawing he only swirls his tongue around like his mouth is uncomfortable. There was a red sore on the roof of him mouth about 4 days ago, but it is now gone.
He had blood work done when he first started losing weight in May and the only thing that pointed to trouble was hypercalcemia (14.0 - fasting. His proteins were slightly elevated with a TP of about 7 - though I don't remember exact #'s and his Phos was low.
He did show some hind end weakness but that is mostly gone.
I have been feeding him a cream and turkey mixture with a pro-biotic supplement. I give him pedialyte to keep him from getting dehydrated. His poops were not normal from the beginning - starting with small but only semi-loose, and lately they became like lemon pudding. Never did I see the watery, seedy poops I saw with the last case of IBD. changing from chicken to turkey seemed to help with the poops and they are not yellow anymore, but still small. He actually had an oily substance leaking from his anus while he was sleeping, which could have been ferretone?
Snide does a lot of sleeping and shivers constantly; he will not eat his dry food anymore and has to be awakened for his cream & chicken feedings (2-3 times daily). I started giving him small doses (.25 cc /day) of pred about 7 days ago and that has helped his appetite and his general appearance. His weight has gone up and down from 2.5-lbs last year to a low of about 1.2 to 1.5 now. However, it has NOT been determined what is ailing him.
IDB is always a concern to someone who has just been through it -but I do not want to subject him to an invasive surgery if there is another way. Is there something else that I should try or even some other condition I should be considering first.
I have an appointment next Saturday, so if anyone has a suggested course of action I would be most grateful.
Thanks.
~ Nicole
End of ferrethealth Digest
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