From:
Pam Sessoms
Date: 2002-08-20 17:40:06 UTC
Subject: Re: [ferrethealth] More IBD help
To: MC <MC@ProgressiveSystemsInc.org>
cc: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <Pine.A41.4.44+UNC.0208201332200.26070-100000@login7.isis.unc.edu>
On Tue, 20 Aug 2002, MC wrote:
> I have changed his diet several times, trying to see if his diet was
> responsible.....I feed a mix of TF, Ferret Store, and Mazuri, so I just
> fed him a constant diet of a single brand of kibble, instead of the mix.
> It had no effect on him.
You may possibly have still been on the right track, but if everything you
tried had a common ingredient to which he is allergic, there still
wouldn't have been improvement. I am thinking of a friend's ferret that
has eosinophilic enteritis and is completely sensitive to any amount of
CHICKEN in her diet. Often even the ones labelled "lamb" contain chicken
in the ingredients. Anyway, the friend's ferret has been doing well
long-term on a diet of Hill's Z/D Ultra (avail from vets only) and HAM
babyfood. The Z/D is somehow broken down, though the magic of science, so
that the body can't tell what kind of protein is in there, so there are no
allergic reactions. (oversimplified, but hey, I'm a librarian, not a
scientist). There are other non-chicken diets out there too, they just
need to be studied and modified to suit a ferret's needs.
> My question is: What tests are there for IBD or helicobacter?
I think that for a definitive diagnosis, you're looking at an exploratory
surgery and biopsies... If you haven't read it yet, there is a good
article by Dr. Williams about IBD in the Files area of this group, inside
the Public folder. Here is a direct link to the article, which is in pdf
format:
http://www.smartgroups.com/vault/ferrethealth/Public/Ferret_IBD.pdf
Hopefully someone else can fill in the gaps...
-Pam S.