From:
Sukie Crandall
Date: 2003-11-01 16:53:06 UTC
Subject: Re: Worried - Please help
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Cc: souzagirl@hotmail.com
Message-Id: <DDA7A270-0C8B-11D8-B4EC-000A95CD182C@mac.com>
>My soon to be two-year-old ferret, Gambit, has always been very active
and playful. In the past >couple of days (today included), however,
Gambit is acting out of his ordinary self: he doesn't seem >to be
eating a lot; he doesn't drink water from his water bottle and then
seems to fill himself up with >water from my cat's water bowl; he seems
to be sleeping much more than usual, even when I let >him out of his
cage; he isn't interesting in playing, no matter how much I encourage
him; he even >seems to be very weak, and today he was unable to stand
on his back legs
Okay, first off if he has influenza it would be from being exposed to a
person who was shedding the virus itself, not from being around the
shots. The vaccines are killed virus vaccines so they don't cause
infection. I had to look them up on the CDC site for someone recently.
I am more concerned that Gambit may have a blockage (though general
symptoms like that could have other causes, certainly). Is he
defecating? How much is he eating? A blockage is something that you
have jump on FAST: no waiting for Monday. Make an emergency
appointment today.
Another possible cause of drinking greatly and being tired is diabetes.
It is rare in ferrets, but it again is something which needs to be
jumped on right away.
As I said, there certainly are other possible causes, but with two of
the possibilities requiring rapid action you really need to get care
promptly.
If you do not have a ferret vet check in:
http://www.smartgroups.com/vault/ferrethealth/ReferenceShelf/
FerretVets.htm
http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org/vets/ Search by zip code, read FAQ first.
http://www.quincyweb.net/quincy/vet.html
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/vets.htm
http://www.ferretcentral.org/for-others/db-vets.html
http://www.geocities.com/houseferrets13uk/Vets.html UK vets
http://www.ferrets.org/Veterinarian_Listings.htm British Columbia vets
http://www.ferretuniverse.com/index.html
http://www.ferretcongress.org
http://www.supportourshelters.org
http://www.ferretcentral.org
http://www.ferretnews.org/clinic.html
http://www.ferretsanonymous.com/medical.html
also in ferret magazines and through your area's ferret clubs
Smartgroups is slow again today (having been chugging on posts that
have been approved for about 4 days now though they do finally appear),
but your ferret may have a problems which requires that you jump
rapidly -- that vet appointment -- so I am not going to wait for your
posts to appear on my screen before sending this reply.