Message Number: SG8538 | New FHL Archives Search
From: kestrelinden@yahoo.com
Date: 2004-04-14 17:21:44 UTC
Subject: UTI? Was "Re: Paxie,Sore Mouth?"
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <5946073.1081963304182.JavaMail.root@thallium.smartgroups.com>

Thanks Gail for your reply. I had tried to get her to the vet yesterday, no one around here was in who would see a ferret. She got in this morning.

The vet said her mouth seems fine. Took a side and top x-ray, no blockages apparent. CBC, will have results tomorrow. They sedated her to do all this and in the process she peed for them, so they did a urinalysis. Concentration seemed good, she had a lot of blood and a little protein, possibly from all the blood, in her urine, but not enough to be visible. So until CBC results tomorrow, at the moment, it looks like a urinary tract infection. She also lost a lot of weight, all very recently, from about 2.5 to 1.1 pounds. She is on clavamox, which she tolerated well back in 2001 for a cold, and we're trying to feed her 1/4 to 1/2 a can of canine/feline a/d diet each day. They also gave her sub-q fluids for mild dehydration, my main short term concern.

She is very angry with me, we've gotten one dose of clavamox down, I'll give her the rest of the day to sleep before I try to feed her. Anyone out there have experience with uti's? Anyone with suggestions for feeding a ferret that does not want to eat? Her food gets put into a syringe and I am aware to be careful about aspiration. She sure does have a lot of fight for having lost half her weight, which gives me some hope. We'll know more tomorrow, I'm curious why there would be little to no symptoms one day then bam the next day she just stops eating. I know they're stoic little guys, and she might have been showing symptoms that we didn't catch.

Thanks all,
Maureen, Paxie, and NikkoBear

Author wrote:
> I would think a vet check for a tooth abscess would be in order. Water is
> painful if your teeth hurt. Check around her gum line for any redness or
> swelling
> Gail Elsey