From:
dr_bruce_williams
Date: 2002-04-15 19:11:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Very sick ferret
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., "erka2719" <erka2719@a...> wrote:
> I work for a vet and we do not specialize in ferrets but we have
had
> a peculiar case come in tonight. I do not have a lot of
information
> but I will tell you what I know.
> The ferret is middle-aged, female, and appears to have been in good
> health prior to becoming ill. She became lost in the basement of
her
> home for a couple of days and after she was located, she had little
> appetite. She is dehydrated, running a slight fever (103F), and
very
> lethargic. She does twitch a bit, but there is no pronounced
seizure
> activity. She can move her back legs but shows no desire to get up
> and move about. Her blood glucose was 211.
Lost for several days, in apparently good health prior - now
lethargic with a low temp and dehydrated.
First thing you should consider is a stress-induced gastric ulcer.
Ulceration in the stomach often lead to low grade fever as a result
of bacteria and their byproducts getting access to the bloodstream
through the hole in the gastric mucosa. The stomach is by no means a
sterile environment.
The stress response in ferrets generally does not include
hyperglycemia, but it certainly does in other species, and this may
be an unusual case.
After rehydration, lets rerun the CBC and glucose and see where they
have leveled off at - you may see anemia after the dehydration is
corrected, which would also point toward gastric ulceration.
Of course, there may be other things going on here, even early
diabetes, but lets play the odds, first.
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, DVM