From:
Pam Sessoms
Date: 2003-09-25 21:34:36 UTC
Subject: Re: [ferrethealth] Labored breathing
To: witchblade2@hotmail.com
cc: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <Pine.A41.4.44+UNC.0309251723510.16808-100000@login7.isis.unc.edu>
> 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 been a
> little larger than normal. SO I decided to put him on heart medications
> 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 took him off the furosimide, since he hated it, but left him
> on the enalapril since he liked it.
I unfortunately have some experience with cardiomyopathy. Those
ultrasounds are a little expensive, but with heart disease, they are
generally very useful. I hate to bring it up since you can't really
afford it, though. The ultrasound would be helpful to see if his heart is
really the problem; you don't know if perhaps his lungs are looking cloudy
for some other reason - pneumonia that didn't respond to the Clavamox, the
rare case of lymphoma in the lungs, etc. Did your vet hear a heart murmur
or other firm indication that it's a heart problem?
If it really is fluid in his lungs from heart disease, he *needs* that
furosemide. Try mixing it with some duck soup. Or, ask your vet about
learning to give the injectable form. It's not that hard, and it acts
more quickly than giving it orally.
> 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.
Digoxin is a miniscule dose. Definitely wait for your vet if you can;
this is one drug that needs really careful dosing and monitoriong. It can
help strengthen the heart's contractions.
> He has been eating a lot and gaining weight since this all started and
> that worries me.
Me too. Ferrets get weak with a bad heart, and they get really tired when
they have a lot of extra weight to carry around. On the other hand, is
there a chance that it's fluid collecting in his belly rather than fat?
Heart disease can cause fluid buildup like that. That's what the
furosemide would address. I know he doesn't like it, but it's a
relatively safe medicine, and it's one of the very most basic and
necessary ones for dealing with cardiomyopathy. They need it to get the
fluid out of the lungs and off the belly.
> 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
> this year and could not bear to put another one through it.
It doesn't sound very surgical to me, but I'm not a vet. I wouldn't have
surgery on one of cardio ferrets unless there were very pressing
circumstances.
> If you have any ideas for alternate treatments, let me know ASAP, I do
> not know how long he will hang in there, it has already been a month.
> Note he can walk but must stop to rest and catch his breath...
My ferrets with heart disease get CoQ10, taurine, L-carnitine, and
hawthorn. These can be found a health food stores or online. The initial
investment is a little expensive but they last for a long time. But I
don't use them to replace the furosemide and other prescription medicines
- they are used as part of a "full attack" on the cardio.
There is a lot more info in our archives - search on cardiomyopathy:
http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org/
Good luck to you and your ferret!
-Pam S.