Message Number: SG5250 | New FHL Archives Search
From: julie_fossa@yahoo.com
Date: 2003-07-08 18:33:29 UTC
Subject: RE: Megaesophagus
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <1559277.1057689209034.JavaMail.root@thallium.smartgroups.com>

Brando was diagosed with this horrible disease called megaesophagus

***
How unfortunate you and Brando are faced with this condition.

Sammy was diagnosed with Mega-E last summer. He was prescribed Zantac and Propulsid. He went from 1 pound 13 ounces to 3 pounds 3 ounces once we began treating him, before relapsing and failing. His treatment was over the course of one month.

Once he began to fail, he was unable to keep even water down; we tried injectible forms of the meds, with no success. This might work for Brando, though.

One thing I did was make his soup rather thin, and used a high calorie supplement such as Dyne. Check with your vet to see if he sees any reason you should not use the Dyne due to glucose problems. It is available through Jeffers catalogue. 1(800)JEFFERS

I also found he ate best when I would lay a towel over my lap for stability, then let him stand on my lap in a 'begging' position. I would support his upper body beneath his front legs, and let him place his front feet in my hands. Holding the dropper high enough that he would have to 'reach' for it, he would drink the soup. You could hear the air move around and escape as he ate.

If he would eat too fast, it seemed he would 'back up'. He would get this frightened look in his eyes. I could see it in his eyes before any other sign would show. Then his neck would stiffen and swell; he would act panicky. I found that by gently massaging his neck with light pressure in a circular motion would reassure him and help him relax, and his rigid tense neck would relax. I could let him down to run for a few minutes, and he would soon be ready to continue eating.

I was only able to keep Sammy comfortable for about 3 weeks before he began to have trouble again. That is when the injectible meds were tried. When Sammy could no longer keep water down we opted for a mercy shot. I couldn't bear to watch him go back to the 1 pound 13 ounces he weighed when I got him 2 months earlier.

In the end, Sammy exhibited frantic behaviors. He would bolt from your arms if you put a dropper of food near him. He would run around the shelter knocking the water bottles off of the cages, then would try to drink from them. The only ways we could get water into him was to put him into the sink and let the water drip from the faucet, where he would lick it, or he would lick the water droplets from the side of the bathtub. By this time, any water he did get into him came back as a pink froth. He was no longer able to sleep; he always seemed uncomfortable. He was miserable. That was when we decided it was time to say goodbye.

There have been some owners that have been able to stabilize their Mega-E ferrets for a year or more, so don't give up hope.

What I learned from Mega-E when Sammy had it; it's a condition found predominantly in middle age to older, generally male, ferrets. However, I have heard of females known to have the condition.

The esophagus looses it's ability to move the food into the stomach. On Sammy's necropsy, it was immediately visible to my vet that the esophagus was stretched out and much larger in diameter than a normal ferret's would be. During the next necropsy, my vet showed me what an esophagus should look like. There was a huge difference that was visible, even to me.

You will want to be careful feeding him to prevent choking or accidently inhaling the food...pheumonia is often a complication.

Good luck with your little one,
Julie