From:
alustrial
Date: 2002-01-17 13:59:00 UTC
Subject: Kabuki - Ferret with Allergies?
You might remember that I wrote a little while ago (in
December) about my ferret Kabuki, how he suddenly came down
ill. After three vet visits within the span of a week, two
sets of x-rays on different days and a bunch of test that
where ran (I spoke about these in my original email) - the vet
really had no idea what was wrong with Kabuki and even said
that he could quite possibly have Canine Distemper.
Well, it was obvious that he did NOT have Canine Distemper -
and after a good week and a half of me feeding every 4 hours -
he started to eat his kibble on his own again and started to
drink water again.
Also, his stools returned to normal - actually, to tell the
truth I think that his stools at this point were the best I
have seen him have since I brought Kabuki and Nyago home.
They were nice and solid and a good colour - and had lost that
"birdseed" appearance to them. He also stopped "flinching"
and never had another seizure. It took him up until the
beginning of last week though for him to get 100%, back into
running around like crazy, playing, dancing and the like.
It almost seemed as though this whole chain of events was
triggered by something that could have been an allergy? I had
washed their bedding the previous day and the next day was
when Kabuki started sneezing, hacking and the like - and when
I would take him out of the cage - he would be fine - put him
back in, he would start sneezing again. I changed my laundry
detergent to a non-allergenic detergent and since then, he has
been fine.
The reason why I am writing today though is because of two
events that happened after this initial illness.
There are two areas in this room that are blocked off to the
boys. One is behind the closet and the other is behind the
computer desk. The main reason is because I cannot reach
behind these areas to vacuum all the dust up properly - so I
don't want them going there. Anyhow - the two events that
happened occurred pretty much directly after Kabuki managed to
break down the barrier to get behind the closet, and last
night, when he got behind the desk.
When he got behind the closet (this was about 2 weeks ago) he
started sneezing. I managed to get him out from behind there
- and it was their bedtime anyhow, so he went back into his
cage with Nyago for the night. The following morning, he was
hacking or sneezing quite a bit, and then all of a sudden he
went crazy - and started running around in the second level of
the cage like crazy - and then ran down to the bottom level -
tunneled through the fabric on the cage bottom until he was
underneath it - scooting around really fast - and then he came
out and jumped into the litter box and ran his head under the
litter a couple of times and laid with his head submerged. To
me, this almost looked as though he had an irritation in his
nasal passages or something. I am not sure. I was worried
then that mayhaps he had not eaten through the night (as there
was very little stools in the litter box) so, to make sure he
was getting enough food (I was scared from his first illness)
I started feeding a big meal of the gerbers baby food -
chicken. He ate it all down with no hesitation. I was
keeping an eye on him throughout the day to make sure that he
was eating and drinking and going to the toilet. He also
started walking funny on his hind legs again.
When he did go to the toilet - it was extremely loose and
light in colour. When he went and it was just a little bit
more solid - it was tiny, with the birdseed apperence to it
again. I continued to feed him this baby food once a day (in
the evenings) and he was eating and drinking through the day
and after a week he returned back to normal, his stools became
very good again - and he seemed to get all of his energy back
and resumed walking normally. Oh - I also noticed (both with
the first time and this time) that his stomach seemed to be a
little bit bloated - and when he was going to the toilet, you
could hear him passing gas - but when his stools returned to
normal and he was feeling better - his belly seemed to return
to normal as well and he did not seem bloated.
Until last night.
Last night Kabuki managed to get behind the computer desk. It
does become quite dusty behind there. Anyhow, after him
having been behind there, half an hour late when he was in his
cage, he started sneezing/hacking a little bit - but he seemed
fine. Earlier that night - he was a little wildcat with Nyago
- running around like crazy, wrestling, tube racing you name
it - he was doing it. Then this morning when I uncovered them
- he was looking at me and I could tell straight away that he
appeared lethargic - he did not struggle to get out of the
cage like he normally does - also he was starting to
sneeze/cough quite frequently. Then all of a sudden - he went
crazy - and did one of those race around the cages fits again.
I was worried that Nyago might get hurt in this process so I
opened up the cage and Kabuki came out and raced directly to
his hidey hole - sneezing/coughing a little bit - he looked
very lethargic and he was walking funny on his hind legs
again.
I was not sure if he was eating or not - I wanted to see so I
could start up the soft foods again if he was not - and I gave
him a pile of kibble and he gobbled them all down without
hesitation - he also drank water that I was giving to him as
well - and he appears to have eaten/drank by himself still.
Tonight though - I think I am going to feed him some baby food
again. When I went to clean out the litter box - I notice
that one of the stools in there was very sloppy and a dark
brown in colour with once again - with a hint of the birdseed
appearance to it. He went again to the toilet before - and it
was even more runny - but not as dark. More a medium
brown/green colour. So far, his stomach seems to feel normal
- there is no bloating to it yet unlike the last times.
So I guess what I am wanting to know - is it possible for
ferrets to suffer from bad allergies? Do Kabuki's symptoms
sound as though they could be from an allergy attack? All
three times - including the first illness seem to point to an
allergic reaction. The first - laundry detergent - and the
second and third, an accumulation of dust particles. Or am I
looking at something completely different?
I want to take him to the vet again - but honestly, I am a bit
reluctant to take him back to the vet that I had taken him
too. These people were suggested by the Ferret Shelter where
Kabuki and Nyago are from and are even on the list of ferret
knowledgeable vets - but they did not seem to know what was
happening - and even suggested Canine Distemper, when I was
sure it was not from all the information I had read about it.
So because of this - I hope to hear from some of you guys here
in relation to what you think it could be so that I can take
the appropriate steps.
If it IS an allergy that Kabuki has - what course of action
should I be taking for him? As it is I already make sure
their bedding gets washed once a week with non-allergenic
laundry detergent - and it gets two rinses to make sure there
are no residue. I also wash my own bedding and clothing in
the same detergent. I vacuum this room out toughly once a
week and those areas that I cannot reach - I block off from
them. It seems that these measures do work - until Kabuki
outsmarts me and gets into the No-Go-Zones. And besides all
of this - normally, Kabuki is fine - he exhibits no other
symptoms other than the ones that I have listed here.
I am sorry for the long email - I was trying to list
everything that I could remember from these two episodes.
I look forward to hearing from someone in relation to Kabuki.
Besides it being a complete mystery to me sometimes - it
breaks my heart to see the poor guy look so down.
Many thanks,
Naomi