From:
witchblade2@hotmail.com
Date: 2003-09-24 15:22:33 UTC
Subject: Labored breathing
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <8213308.1064416953032.JavaMail.root@thallium.smartgroups.com>
I have a 5 year old altered male ferret. Last month I noticed he seemed to =
be breathing harder than normal. He is a large ferret around 3.5 pounds and=
normally not super active, but usually playful if you get him going. Howev=
er he was lying around more than usual and taking short quick breaths. He w=
as eating normal, his bowls were normal and he was urinating great, just la=
bored breathing. I took him to the vet and we did x-rays. His lungs were a =
little cloudy so the doctor put him on antibiotics Clavamox. 1 week went by=
and he was no better, still eating, drinking and deficating fine. We took =
another x-ray, lungs were still cloudy and we noticed his heart may have be=
en a little larger than normal. SO I decided to put him on heart medication=
s since I could not afford an ultra sound. He was taking enalapril (enacard=
) and furosimide (lasix). he took it for 1 week and still no better so I to=
ok him off the furosimide, since he hated it, but left him on the enalapril=
since he liked it. He is still on Enalapril and I am considering Digoxin, =
but I don't know the dosage and my doctor is out of town till monday. He ha=
s been eating a lot and gaining weight since this all started and that worr=
ies me. He has a very large spleen, but it does not seem to be getting any =
bigger. He is not a surgery candiadte and I already lost 2 post surgery thi=
s year and could not bear to put another one through it. If you have any id=
eas for alternate treatments, let me know ASAP, I do not know how long he w=
ill hang in there, it has already been a month. Note he can walk but must s=
top to rest and catch his breath, and he will only come for a Crasien.
Thanks for any help. :-)
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