From:
julie_fossa@yahoo.com
Date: 2003-08-12 14:43:07 UTC
Subject: RE: Fuzzy not getting well
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <5252498.1060699387468.JavaMail.root@thallium.smartgroups.com>
I've had two ferrets that had similar yet different signs; both were helped short term with pred, neither were cured by it nor other treatments.
Zoey had trouble keeping food down, would vomit after eating, had reduced stool volume and weight loss. We went in looking for a hairball, but found a 'rubber band' type of restriction at the exit of her stomach. That was opened, and she still had problems, but of a different nature. The pred seemed to help, possibly just for inflammation, but she later passed from an unrelated problem.
Katie, on the other hand, started having trouble eating. She started pawing at her mouth, so was started on pred for low bg, but eventually wouldn't eat at all. She improved for a short period of time. Having developed dark tarry stools among other things, we suspected a hairball with her, and scheduled surgery. Instead of a hairball or obstruction, we found her stomach wall appeared to be extremely enlarged and thickened, possibly lymphoma. Lymph nodes were enlarged in the area, and she had numerous other growths, including on her lungs (learned when we let her go).
Remember, blockages do not always show up on xray.
Good luck,
Julie
> These are her current symptoms:
> Still has to be force-fed.
> This evening, she really just didn't want to eat. Generally she will accept her 'bottle' of sustacal. Of course, we have duck soup running out of our ears here.
> Seems to sleep a lot.
> Tried to eat a raisin (yes we know it's not the healthiest thing around but vet encouraged anything that she would take) yesterday. She had trouble swallowing it even though it was broken up into tiny tiny pieces.
> At times, she sounds stuffy (we are also treating that).
> Paws at mouth (sign of sick tummy)when feeding sometimes.
> We will of course return to the vet, but if you guys are like us, we get so attached to these little ones. Tomorrow is a long way's off when you know that the fuzzy is not at its best.
> Any ideas? Any suggestion would be appreciated. Has anyone had a similar experience with their fuzzy?