From:
tg830@hotmail.com
Date: 2004-09-16 21:30:47 UTC
Subject: Smartgroups having some problems. Avoid rejections. Administrative
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <1949322.1095306252061.JavaMail.root@thallium.smartgroups.com>
My girlfriend and I have two ferrets, male and female, ages 7 and 6.5 respectively.
They are both recovering from a suspected bout with ECE, contracted in mid August, 2004.
JAY, the male, is insulinomic, and had his left adrenal removed in June, 2003. His normal weight prior to the recent illness was 1.6 lbs, got down to a low of 1.0 lbs, now hovering around 1.4 to 1.5 lbs.
BABY, the female, had her left adrenal removed in June, 2004. Her normal weight prior to the recent illness was 2.4 lbs, got down to a low of 1.4 lbs, now hovering around 1.6 lbs.
Both were put on PediaPred, Amoxicillin, Sucralfate, and Interferon as part of the course of treatment.
Jay, obviously, is still on the PediaPred, and Baby was put on Baytril, as a precaution, due to a snort she developed over the last month of forced feedings. We were concerned that she may have aspirated some medicine or Duck Soup while being syringe fed. Initially, she resisted quite alot to the forced feedings, but has come around for the most part, after a month of feedings.
Both ferrets started gaining weight back with 4 tsps. of Duck Soup, 5 times a day. As they have gotten healthier, they have started to resist the syringe feedings, so we dropped the amount to 2 tsps, 5 times a day.
Weight loss started again, and it appears they need 3 tsps, 5 times a day to maintain their current body weight.
Our Duck Soup recipe is as follows:
2 Cups Totally Ferret Finely Ground
1 Bottle Strawberry Ensure
1 3/4 Cups Pedialyte Unflavored
1 Can Natural Balance Ultra Blend Cat Food
2 Jars Gerber Chicken and Chicken Gravy Baby Food
2 Tbsp Ferretone
30 Grams Ferretvite
Now, this works out to roughly 75 grams of Duck Soup, per ferret, per day.
The past week, we have been attempting to try and wean them off of the Duck Soup and back on to kibble, with little or no success.
Baby has begun to eat kibble again, but only with encouragement, and not very much during any one sitting. By sitting, I mean that we make sure that every 3-4 hours, except overnight, she eats some food. The amount is usually only 8-10 pieces of kibble. If she is not in the mood for kibble, she will eat about 1 tsp of hand fed Duck Soup, per sitting.
Jay will not eat on his own at all.
>From all outward appearances, they have both recovered from their illness, but neither has regained their appetite.
Both ferrets had ravenous appetites prior to get sick, and they both are drinking an adequate amount of water daily.
We have tried caging them seperately, to determine if they were eating while we were not at home. Again, Baby ate a little, Jay did not eat at all.
Now, for the questions....
What is considered the normal daily food requirement? (Grams of kibble/Kilogram of body weight)
Does anyone have ANY suggestions on how to re-stimulate their appetite?
Is it common for a ferret to have a loss of appetite for this long a duration following a GI tract illness?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Tim and Wendy
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com,
ferrethealth-owner <ferrethealth-owner@smartgroups.com>
From: sukie crandall <sukiec@optonline.net>
Note
Message-id: <ACBC570E-0827-11D9-837C-000A95CD182C@optonline.net>
Smartgroups is having some problems right now.
Often at such times we lose moderation functions. In such cases, since
we can't spend extra time cleaning up failures to follow the rules we
have to reject a lot of posts. (It is always hoped that members be
kind enough to all -- including the moderators who otherwise wind up
with a lot of avoidable extra work -- to follow the rules, anyway.
(Notice, too, that we don't worry about vets having long quotes
specifically because they are vets, but no one else should fail to
reduce the amount quoted to be less than whatever they write
themselves.) This is the single most commonly ignored rules and adds a
lot to the moderation workload.
If we lose moderation functions or those become too slow there will be
a number of rejections which could have easily been avoided by the
posting members.
Here are the rules to remind everyone:
http://www.smartgroups.com/vault/ferrethealth/fhl_rules.txt
The Ferret Health List Terms of Service
(Originally drafted March 2, 2001, updated August 2003)
Listed below are conditions for participation in the Ferret Health
List. By sending messages to "the Ferret Health List" you
explicitly agree to the following conditions:
1) Be kind to one another. No flames. Don't attack a poster.
2) When questioning a particular course of treatment, or asking
about something your vet has suggested, do not mention vet or clinic
by name, just the specifics of the treatment. When questioning
medications, include dosage (place 0 before decimal as in 0.1) and
mg/ml (6.75mg/5ml).
3) Personal messages of sympathy, thanks, and "me too's" should be
sent directly to the poster, not the list.
4) This list is a resource for ferret health related information.
Ferret health includes; medical, behavorial, nutritional, physical
and psychological needs of ferrets. Your veterinarian should be
your first line of defense for safeguarding your ferrets health.
5) Commercial messages and those soliciting donations are not
appropriate. This includes signature lines.
6) Do not direct ferret health questions to a particular individual
or vet on the list. Doing so will decrease your chance of a reply
from others that may have valuable input for your situation.
7) The subject line of your post should reflect the topic.
"Question" or "Sick Ferret" is too vague and will get lost in the
archives. A subject line of "How much Prednisone is too much" or
"Are these symptoms of Adrenal Disease" is more likely to get prompt
responses.
8) Quote as little of the original post as possible. When
responding to someone, quote only enough of the original post to
remind subscribers of what was said. A good rule of thumb: quoted
post should not be longer than the response.
9) This list is not Consumer Reports. Opinions of various ferret
health related practices is allowed. Opinions of specific breeders,
shelters, ferret owners and pet shops is not. Political topics are
not allowed.
10) Only ferret health related photo and file uploads are allowed.
Moderators can move, delete, compress, or otherwise manage photos
and files. When uploading, uncheck the "notify group" box. If box
is checked, moderators will reject an automated message to the
group. Instead, direct readers to your photos and files in a
message to the group.
11) This list is the property of the moderators; anything posted to
it becomes the property of the list and its off-site archives. We
reserve the right to censor posts. We may edit submissions for
length or clarity. This includes, but is not limited to: removing
excessive signatures and quotes, providing appropriate subject
lines, and editing spelling and/or grammar. Submission of material
to the list constitutes permission for electronic distribution on
this or other lists.
12) On-topic cross-posting of your own messages is allowed.
13) If you feel the need to moderate someone on the list, address
your post to the moderators at ferrethealth-owner@smartgroups.com.
We are the ones who allowed the post to go through.
14) The act of your submitting a post implicitly implies your
certification to us that you own or have release of rights for all
material submitted in the post. You agree to hold harmless and
unconditionally indemnify The Ferret Health List and the list
moderators against and from all liability, costs, expenses, claims
and damages which The Ferret Health List may suffer or become liable
from as a result of posting your submission to the list. This
includes but is not limited to claims of copyright infringement or
actionable defamation. Submission of material to the list
constitutes permission for non-exclusive, perpetual rights for
electronic distribution of your material on this or other lists.