From:
Amy & Dave Seyler
Date: 2002-05-09 20:43:00 UTC
Subject: More on bladder stones
Our ferret Claudia had bladder stones practically since
birth. At about a year she had two the size of cherry pits in
her bladder. Less than a year later she had about six or
seven. At that point I realized that if we didn't do something
we would have to put her down. There was no way I was going to
put her through surgery several times a year for her whole
life.
First she was treated for UTI and bladder infection but to no
avail. By the time the Xray was run she needed surgery.
However, the weirdness begins here: her stones consisted of
cystine, not the struvite formation usually found in ferrets
and cats. Cystine stones are more common in dogs. And she was
eating high quality cat food (not much good ferret food around
back in '91). I was working with one of the most
ferret-knowledgeable vets in the country at the time.
We spent one evening poring through his vet books, looking for
any information. The treatment for dogs was listed in one of
the books so we tried a radical idea -- use the same
medications on Claudia and see if it worked -- not knowing if
they were toxic to ferrets.
She was put on 1.0 ml of Tiopronin 2x/day and 0.5 ml of
Policitra-K once a day. She had one more surgery several
months after that to remove a number of stones, and then never
had another problem with them her whole life. She had periodic
bloodwork run to make sure the medications did not harm her,
and she lived to be almost 8. (She ended up with a whole host
of other things -- cardio, adrenal, abscessed tooth -- at one
point she was on 5 or 6 meds a day.)
I know this doesn't directly relate to the poor male ferret
who has displaced his penis bone, but if this is helpful to
anyone that's what the list is for!! If anyone would like to
know who the vet is or get more info email me directly (yes,
he's still in practice).
Good luck!
Amy, Dave, Sarah & Paul (and their gaggle of giggling ferrets)
RIP Ian, Elektra, Claudia & Sidney