From:
"Lin"
Date: 2004-03-30 03:53:15 UTC
Subject: re:extremely tired ferret
To: <ferrethealth@smartgroups.com>
Message-ID: <003301c4160a$87fe71e0$2602a8c0@woh.rr.com>
Definitely take her to the vet. While there, ask for an xray of her heart.
My Ariel has supraventricular tachycardia (which is virtually unknown in fe=
rrets - my vet is writing a paper on it right now). Her normal heart rate w=
as between 250-380 bpm. Her main symptom was extreme lethargy - just as you=
described it, she would walk around a little, then curl up & go back to sl=
eep. Also, her nose, ears, & gums were very pale.
An xray showed what looked like an enlarged heart (slightly). We found a ve=
terinary cardiologist who did an echocardiogram w/ doppler studies, & an EK=
G, where the rapid heart rate was discovered. Turns out, there was no actua=
l enlargement of the heart - when the xray was taken, her heart had an abno=
rmal volume of blood in it, cos her heart was saying "beat again NOW", befo=
re it had a chance to pump out the blood it had pumped in on the *last* bea=
t.
We caught it early; she's on about $6 worth of Atenolol per month, & she's =
as active as she was when she was a kit, at almost 4 yrs of age. Had this n=
ot been discovered, she most certainly would have developed damage to her h=
eart.
It's worth checking into.
Lin, Ariel, Oberon, & Max