From:
dr_bruce_williams
Date: 2002-04-14 18:28:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Urgent, internal bleeding!
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., kfor651676@a... wrote:
At 2am this morning she had blood in her stool (dark)
> she has had three others since then. She also spit up some treats
with a
> little red blood. She is drinking a lot so she is hydrated. Last
time I
> gave her treats she started tooth grinding. She has had many
problems
> throughout her life, most have been near death experiences. She
had a
> bleeding ulcer many years ago after her first adrenal surgery. No
vet will
> see us today, they recommended carafate, amoxi until we can see a
ferret
> knowledgeable vet tomorrow. I have delt with ulcers before. They
do not usually start with
> coughing? I think she is also hypersalivating? How do I know
where the
> bleeding is coming from? How do I stop it? She also has a history
of severe
> episodes of diarrhea which she had really bad on Thursday? I can
never make
> sense of it when she gets sick.
Dear Kelly:
You are likely dealing with a bad ulcer here. The coughing may be
totally unrelated - I agree with you there. But the tooth grinding,
the tarry stools, and the blood-tinged vomitus - these are all very
indicative of an ulcer. the fact that she had diarrhea may be
related to the ulcer, or may once again indicate another problem.
Remember that ulcers most often occur secondarily to another
condition, so the coughing and or diarrhea may be the primary
condition, and the ulcer developed subsequently.
Let's get her on the Carafate 75 mg/lb ten minutes before each meal.
No more treats, but either a baby food mixture or some form of duck
soup. Also hand feed water as often as possible. (You can get some
tips on feeding sick ferrets and dealing with ulcers at my web site
at http://www.afip.org/ferrets
Have your vet check her carefully as soon as you can get her in -
there may be a panoply of problems here.
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, dVM