From:
dr_bruce_williams
Date: 2002-01-03 10:27:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Inflammatory Bowel Disease
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., Fuzzbukket12@a... wrote:
> Hello everyone.I've been reading posts on this site for 2 months
and haven't
> seen any thing pertaining to this as of yet.
>
> One of my males-a rescue of undetermined age, has been diagnosed by
our vet
> to have inflammatory bowel disease. She figures Claymore to be
around 5 to 6
> years old. We've had him for 4 years and until 4 months ago, he
enjoyed good
> health, and his stools were textbook healthy. He started having
> runny,sometimes birdseedy stools that were transient, but then
became the
> norm, which is when we took him to our vet. She has put him on 2
cc's of pred
> daily and still his poops are horrible. They also smell extremely
foul. He
> has had no dietary change until 2 weeks ago when the vet suggested
we start
> giving him Iams lamb and rice formula. Up until then, Claymore, as
well as
> the rest of our babies were eating a mix of Iams kitten and
Marshalls,and
> they seem to thrive on this. Today we took Claymore once again for
a
> re-check, as he is not responding to the pred and now we're very
worried
> because logistically, he's not getting any nutrients from whatever
he's
> eating. He does eat and play, however his coat looks thin and has
no luster
> as compared to his 'brothers and sisters' , who all have thier
winter coats
> that are absolutely gorgeous.
>
Dear Erika:
You do not mention whether a biopsy has been performed. There are a
number of diseases that could result in these clinical signs besides
the so-called "inflammatory bowel disease - eosinophilic enteritis,
coccidiosis, chronic ECE to name a few.
As there is no specific blood test for IBD, a diagnosis based on the
presence of intractable diarrhea is precipitous to say the least, and
adding metronidazole into the mix is probably not appropriate.
Metronidazole is a part of therapy for Helicobacter, which is not
part of the "IBD complex" Additionally, the stress of admnistation
of flagyl may cause or worsen a gastric ulcer.
Additionally, the use of kibble in cases of IBD often makes the
stools worse, as diagnosed animals lack the intestinal function
needed to digest kibble.
With kinest regards,
Bruce Williams, DVM