From:
stephanieno@sympatico.ca
Date: 2003-08-24 15:41:25 UTC
Subject: Strider has hip dysplasia
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <305924.1061739685872.JavaMail.root@thallium.smartgroups.com>
A few weeks ago I brought Strider in thinking that he may have a possible foreign object in him. On the friday he was straining to defecate and only small amounts were coming out. I waited until the Saturday as the ferret vet would be on then. Luckily Strider was having better bowel movements and a better appetite, but we decided to take an x-ray as a precaution. What wasn't normal in the x-ray was his left hip. He has hip dysplasia. Back in about March he had injured his leg and I had brought him in. It was felt that his hock had been affected and an x-ray was taken of that. Strider was put on bed rest and in time came almost back to normal.
My vet says that he will need surgery to fix it. This will involve removing the top part of the femur. Not to do it will cause him to have increased pain as time goes on. We have a great orthopedic surgeon at the clinic, even though he has never operated on a ferret, and then my doctor will be there who is a great ferret surgeon.
I was wondering if anyone else has had this surgery done on a ferret and if they or a vet would know of anything that I could do to assist with recovery?
Thanks,
Steph