From:
Kym Barone
Date: 2002-06-10 21:03:00 UTC
Subject: Update on Patches/possible IBD or similar ailment
I am overwhelmed by how many people have been writing to
offer me support and suggestions about Patches, and I'm
falling behind on personal thank-yous, but please everyone who
wrote know I am VERY appreciative. I wanted to post out here
about tonight's vet visit and I will keep people updated in
case (a) I can learn more and (b) it may help someone in the
future.
I was not able to see my regular vet tonight, she is not in
until tomorrow, so I saw another vet who treats ferrets at the
office I use. She was very nice, I think she knows a decent
amount about ferrets, but I also don't think she's seen many
or any confirmed IBD cases in ferrets. I don't fault her for
that of course! I will admit I went in there hoping that we
could find out for sure this was IBD so I had a definitive
diagnosis, and treatment suggestions as outlined by the
Burgess article and Dr. Williams' article.
The vet I saw was not as convinced that I have IBD as I think
maybe I am in my heart. She did say that the only two ways to
get a diagnosis were endoscope, or surgery. She also cautioned
me that while these symptoms are dead-on for IBD, they are
also consistent for a bunch of other ailments. She, too,
suggested bacterial/viral enteritis, which my regular vet
diagnosed, but Patches has been on clavamox for nearly 14 days
now and flagyl for almost a week, and neither are helping *at
all.* She also suggested lymphoma, or a different bacterial
infection, or kidney problems, or a host of other things.
She told me my two options were:
1. Do a fecal, bloodwork, and from the results of the
bloodwork ascertain if she's strong enough for surgery, so
that we could look around, take a bowel biopsy, and remove her
adrenal gland(s) (she is adrenal, I knew this already, early
symptoms). In the meantime, we could NOT put her on pred, she
said that if I did, it could affect the biopsy and do more
harm than good if it is some kind of virus or bacteria, as it
is an immunosuppresant.
2. Try the pred therapy and forego the testing/surgery option.
She told me that if I go the pred route, there was no going
back - from the first dose on, the risk of losing Patches, if
it was something other than lympho or IBD, were great.
I sort of got the impression she is from the school of thought
that pred is not the miracle drug of choice (and I will admit,
I am of the school of thought that it IS). I was so torn, I
didn't know what to do. But in the end, I opted for the pred
therapy, at .5 cc 2x a day. My reasons were pretty simple -
she's skin and bones, she can NOT endure surgery. The vet said
endoscope was not an option for her because she's just too
tiny. There's such a great risk of losing any ferret in
surgery, even healthy ones (I lost one to an anasthesia
reaction during a routine neuter, he was just a young, strong
boy) but I can't see how surgery could be done on a 3/4 pound
ferret with *no* fat and *no* muscle. That would mean I'd have
to try to get her strength up before the surgery - but I've
BEEN trying to get her to gain weight and get back on her
feet, to no avail; and this vet was saying that I couldn't use
pred *at all* if I was going to go the surgery route. So.....
the way I saw it, pred therapy would start TONIGHT and that
would mean that if we guessed right, in a few days, I *may*
see some improvement. I can't tell you all how desperately I'm
praying, and the next 48-72 hours will be agony for me while I
await improvement....
At the end of the exam, I did ask if I should still have the
fecal and bloodwork done, and perhaps the vet misunderstood
me, because she said that there was no reason to, and I didn't
think about it. But now I'm kicking myself, what could it have
hurt? It could have yielded some information, right?? I think
she thought I was asking again if I could put her on pred but
still use the bloodwork to prepare her for surgery, or
something, I can't see why she would have denied the
opportunity for bloodwork, so I will just say it was
miscommunication. I think I will take her back anyway for it,
just to know.
I wish that there was some other way to have gotten the
diagnosis of IBD (to rule it out or in, either way) but I just
can't see putting such a very, very sick ferret under... I'm
second-guessing myself like crazy, but my "mommy instinct"
tells me that this was the right guess... so we'll try the
pred and modified diet and I'm going to give her bottled water
(I don't trust my water here)....
If anyone has anything else to add here, I'm very, very open
to suggestions. I've seen a lot of ferret illness, but this
one is just completely new to me.
My best to all of you and your fuzzies...
Kym
Ferret Mommy to 20
L'il Grunt, Kerplunk, Mookie, Mikayla, Marty, Tanglefoot,
Tumbleweed, Corky, Tequila Sunrise, Squirt, Piggly Wiggly,
Trouble Too, Muse, Patchwork Princess, Boo, Homer, Connie,
Bonnie, Sallie, and Tangerine Twist