From:
amber1407
Date: 2002-05-07 06:54:00 UTC
Subject: Spooks relapse
I wrote several weeks ago about my little fellow's lack of appetite
and diarrhoea. Thanks to all who got back to me with suggestions.
He has had three different courses of antibiotics, the latest being
an oral preparation of Vibravet paste. All of them seemed to work
for a while, especially this last one, which seemed to enable him to
regain his appetite, and was even eating his kibble, chicken mince
and some diced meat for almost a week. He was on the paste for
almost two weeks, but now the course has ceased, he is back to how he
was before...skinny, listless, sleeping a lot, loose stools, and he
seems like he's hungry, but when he eats something, he immediately
panics and runs around retching, trying to vomit, though he rarely
eats enough for much to be brought up. I live in Australia, and
while ECE hasn't spread here yet, my vet has said that the sometimes
greenish diarrhoea does indicate some kind of bug in his tummy. My
question is, antibiotics seem to help the problem, but I am aware
that they can sometimes get rid of "good" bacteria too, so how do I
counter this, if the only solution is more antibiotics, or does this
long illness suggest something else? He has no obstructions, his
blood work was normal, but I am getting frustrated at his weight
loss, and losing the beautiful bounding baby I used to know. I have
two other ferrets (one is his brother, and both are sleek and
healthy), though I keep them isolated from Spook now as he gets worse
when they are around, and they all have no contact with other ferrets
or animals. Help!