From:
Sukie Crandall
Date: 2002-08-22 16:42:24 UTC
Subject: Re: Some Good News
To: oxbowindustries@aol.com, ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-Id: <p0511170bb98ac1c78c7e@[10.0.1.2]>
Glad to read your good news!
Having had one ferret with kidney disease, one with a cystic liver,
two with thoracic tumors, four with cardiomyopathy, and 6 with
lymphoma (2 of whom got ascites) in the past 20 years (with several
of those cases over-lapping) we've encountered I guess 6 to 8
individuals with ascites. As a result we always jump fast when we
have what might be "water balloon belly", and also when coughing is
present. For the later we usually jump if the coughing is persistent
or strong, but we had an elderly lady who tended to hide health
problems so we jumped fast when she had a tiny on and off cough only
to find that she had pneumonia and pleurosy that showed up on x-ray
and ultrasound but not on exam. (Point being that how fast one jumps
should also be influenced by the individual characteristics of the
animal if those are known.)
When you mentioned the big belly, lethargy and coughing you really
worried me! That combo tends to add up to trouble more often than
not.
Now, does your vet want you to come up with games to help your ferret
exercise more and lose weight?
I am so glad that all worked out right!