From:
sukiec@optonline.net
Date: 2003-10-08 19:02:31 UTC
Subject: Re: [ferrethealth] Opinions on Ulcers?
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <5394092.1065639751307.JavaMail.root@thallium.smartgroups.com>
> From what you describe I have to wonder if your
> kid doesn't have a fur ball in the his stomach. I have seen these guys go
> back and forth like this, lose weight (sometimes as much as half their body
> mass). I have seen fur ball diagnoses missed quite frequently. The fur
> looks like whole mice and are very dense and often take up half the volume
> of the stomach...
I have to second that vet opinion (though I'm not a vet and therefore not as knowledgeable) and strongly agree that when ferrets need this surgery they do incredibly well afterward -- improve greatly and the change for the better long term is marvelous.
With one, Jumpstart, who needed it we found that most of the "fur" was actually fake fleece, which is pretty unusual since I've only heard of one other like that. Both that other one and Jumpstart were "bed snackers": they loved to take food into fake fur or fake fleece and eat it there so they got in a lot of fiber that way. Guess who sewed covers over bedding? We're only now starting to again use the bedding I never covered. Hey, it worked for him...
It's a surgery that seems to be a bit harder to bounce back from than the standards, but we've never lost either of those who had it to the surgery by working carefully with our vets. (Actually, the only ferret we have ever had die after surgery died due to having hidden lymphoma which was all through her when she was openned up.)
Our other ferret who needed it had a stomach malformation (and other deformities which is why he was given to us) and could not empty properly, plus his stomach was constantly getting larger and more flaccid. He actually needed the surgery 4 times. When it would get really bad it would always throw off his liver values and sometimes inflame his pancreas. Then he'd be like a different ferret once he healed from surgery, so that short pain was very worth it.