From:
Pam Sessoms
Date: 2003-07-28 17:16:50 UTC
Subject: Re: [ferrethealth] respiratory infection
To: harbourljmd@aol.com
cc: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <Pine.A41.4.44+UNC.0307281309000.53156-100000@login7.isis.unc.edu>
> Ruby has her right nostril very congested and her right eye is running.
> She sneezes constantly and the nasal discharge is getting to be more and
> more. She wakes up with huge crusts on her nostril. I am desperate
> because her condition is deteriorating. Has anyone been through this ?
You and your vet might have already done these things, but here are some
thoughts. I have one (Nana) who had extreme sneezing - the inside of one
of her nostrils sloughed away and is permanently damaged. She's almost
normal now but requires occasional antibiotics or else it gets worse
again. Anyway, thoughts...
Can your vet put a tiny endoscope up there to look around and even collect
samples? They might have to refer you to someplace else if they don't
have anything small enough to go up her nose. This was done with Nana -
my vet used the scope to see what was going up and then was able to put
small instruments up separately to get samples. There wasn't enough room
for the scope and the instruments to be in there simultaneously. But the
scope let her see the conditions and gave her some idea where to go
"fishing."
If some samples can be taken, maybe they can be sent off for a
pathologist's opinion. I'd be worried about (bad scenario) some kind of
nasal lymphoma. Or maybe it's bacterial, but so far the right antibiotic
hasn't been tried. A culture and sensitivity could be done to see what
kind of bacteria (or fungus, even) it might be - that would help pick out
the right treatment.
There are some antibiotics that could be droppered into her nose, but if
the oral ones didn't work, not sure you'd get anything different with a
topical. Again it'd be nice to know which one to use...
Ruling out canine distmper, as someone else said, is a good idea too.
The eye is probably watering because the nasolacrimal duct (drains through
the nose) is blocked.
Best wishes,
-Pam S.