From:
Cjbandit@aol.com
Date: 2003-01-19 15:16:22 UTC
Subject: RE: Need help...Bandit is going down hill
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <1bb.ca41611.2b5c1b46@aol.com>
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
From: williamsdvm@comcast.net
Message-ID: <7750098.1042601127389.JavaMail.root@scandium>
Author wrote:
>pergo floor, his back legs slip, this is something fairly new, my little guy
>Fiefal doesn't slip on these floors. Could it be his weight or is it just a
>sign that his B/G is too low!!
Well, you can't tell until you take the BG, but if you are overweight and
have diminished muscle mass, it's tough to walk across a slippery surface!
I started him on the
>clavamox, to help if it's periodontal disease- ?? does this antibiotic
>decrease their appetites, cause his seems poor since or around the time we
>started the med.- I have also changed his diet instead of just babyfood, I
>got him to eat it in a soup I make up with the "cats light formula of
Science
>Diet- cause my vet felt he was getting too much protein and fat from the
>babyfood.
Well, any form of amoxi can cause decreased appetite in about 10% of cases,
so that's a definite possibility. But a dietary change may also be causing
the drop in appetite. Baby food doesn't have too much protein, so if he was
eating that pretty well, perhaps we can go back to what he was eating.
>I had a problem with him not drinking water, and I noticed when our
Christmas
>tree was up he would drink from the stand where the water was??? Now that
>the tree is gone he again doesn't drink, but I spray water with 02 in it to
>help clean his mouth after he eats.
Mild dehydration may also contribute to the lethargy that you are seeing. it
is often difficult to get a lot of water into a ferret, - hand feeding is the
best way to do it and on a frequent basis. I think I have a trick or two on
my wegb site under "Feeding the Ill Ferret." It might necessitate
subcutaneous fluid administration.
Dr. Williams,
Thanks for responding, Bandits BG is between (60 & 70) the vet always does it
in house and always adds (+10) to the value. His BG always seems to be
within this range, do you think we need to up his pred, right now he gets
1.00 (1x) a day, I'm concerned about his weight problem and don't want to up
it if I don't have to. He still chomps alot when he wakes up and seems like
he's in discomfort, I can't figure out why he does that, I spray his mouth
with water thinking maybe his mouth is just dry, but he still does it. Any
ideas??
Bandit is almost completely blind, one eye is covered with a white film,
which I have been told this is do to cataracts, when insulinoma is the cause
of blindness does that result lead to cataracts and is it usually gradual. I
hope I haven't contributed to Bandit's loss of eyesight, could it be that his
pred dose is too low???
Thanks to everyone for the feedback
Sukie, Dr. Williams and Melissa and Mike
everyone has been so helpful and I really
appreciate it.