From:
Roger Vaughn
Date: 2002-01-23 14:40:00 UTC
Subject: Re: [Ferret-Health-list] Very Sick Ferret PLEASE HELP
Many (dare I say most?) obstructions that ferrets encounter don't show
up on x-ray. Has he pooped at all recently? If not, you have another
good indicator of an obstruction.
The consensus around here seems to be (anyone please correct me if I'm
wrong) if you're in doubt, open him up and check. Exploratory surgery
isn't that hard on a young ferret, but the chance of missing a fatal
obstruction is, well, fatal. An exploratory will also give the
surgeon the chance to release the gas pressure in his stomach and also
take biopsy samples. I believe Dr. Williams recommends an intestinal
sample rather than a stomach sample.
We had to do this to our ferret Digger last fall. He was vomitting
and had little motion in his intestines. The exploratory found
nothing but excess gas and fluids in his stomach - no obstructions
fortunately. Had we not gone in, though, we never would have known
and the gas and fluid buildup could have caused other problems or even
death. Other than having a bare belly for a couple of months, Digger
was back to normal after about a week.
I am not a vet - this is my uninformed opinion - but I think your next
step should be to open him up and confirm that he doesn't have an
obstruction, and gather a biopsy sample to check for other diseases.
Roger
Digger and Bear