From:
wheesht53@yahoo.com
Date: 2004-08-22 17:55:02 UTC
Subject: RE: bladder stones, our problem too
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <16939420.1093205752795.JavaMail.nobody@strontium.smartgroups.com>
He had a urinalysis done twice if that's what you mean by a culture. I've seen it once
where the urine looked like blood, most of the time it's yellow as it should be, but
sometimes it's dark yellow.
His tail fur has been thinning all year, but no baldness yet. I've had one ferret with
adrenal gland disease, but I dont' see this guy acting quite the same way. He had
his bloods done in early June and his glucose was 59, had it done again 3 weeks ago
and it was 112 (I believe), but well into the normal range.
I also give him Gerber's chicken with gravy and sweet potatoes twice a day, which I
use to mid with his pred.
I'm worried that the little fellow is in pain. I don't know if bladder stones feel like a
UTI, but seeing that blood that one time has me worried. The vet wants to try
antibiotics, then diet and surgery as the last resort.
BTW, I switched him back to Marshalls ferret food yesterday to see if there was an
improvement.
[Moderator's Note: a culture gives info that a urinalysis does not. Whatever bacteria
are inthe urine are grown in culture, then if requested, in case of anti-biotic
resistance or other need, they are tested against antibiotics to find what antibiotics
will kill them. See also info in the discussion under other subject headings and
especially read in the FHL Archives at http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org ]