From:
Pam Sessoms
Date: 2003-03-29 17:26:21 UTC
Subject: Re: [ferrethealth] Thomas not eating? (Little Long)
To: Jinxie <jinxie@silverwraith.com>
cc: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <Pine.A41.4.44+UNC.0303291225170.47330-100000@login5.isis.unc.edu>
> Thomas is a sock thief. :o) We found a hole chewed in the top of one of
> our socks on Tuesday. He's eaten & drank normally up until today
> (Friday).
I've had a couple of cloth eaters in my house. sigh.
This definitely sound very much like a GI blockage. I'm not a vet. Here
are my suggestions:
- Get a vet involved now over the phone if you haven't already. Even if
it's not a "surgery NOW" kind of situation, having a vet following the
case can be great with blockages since they'll be totally aware of the
timeframe. Of course, it's the weekend. These things always happen on
the weekend; it's some kind of law of ferretdom. Your vet's office
probably has a way to deal with that - someone may come in for
emergencies, or they migh refer them to another clinic.
- Dose with a petroleum jelly based laxative every few hours. The
ferretlax is likely fine, although I don't have any here to look at.
Vaseline mixed with ferretone is a hit in my house.
- Watch the poop very carefully. With eaten cloth, you can usually see it
in the poop. You can even (brace yourself this is kinda gross) put the
poop in a bowl of water and pick it apart to see if the cloth is passing.
- Watch his hydration level. Push the liquids. If he starts getting
dehydrated, go to the vet's.
And of course, if things get worse or you're not making progress, an
emergency vet visit is in order...
Good luck, and great job on the nursing care so far,
-Pam S.