From:
kestrelinden@yahoo.com
Date: 2004-04-16 18:03:12 UTC
Subject: Paxie, Urinary Tract Infection
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <1306167.1082138592016.JavaMail.root@thallium.smartgroups.com>
Thanks again to all at this list. I've been learning so much I didn't know. It's just really great this is here.
We got Paxie's CBC and blood chem back yesterday, everything looks normal. She's now had five clavamox doses (.5 ml every 12 hrs for a fert who used to be 2.5 lbs and was 1.15 on Wed). The feeding with syringe is getting a lot easier and she drinks on her own more often, sometimes at her bottle, sometimes in our lap from a bowl, but I'd still like to see more.
I'm still feeding her every 2-4 hrs with a 1:1 Marshalls:warm water mix with about a teaspoon of ferretvite mixed in. I had to scruff her Wed and Thurs, dad can get her to eat a lot better, but today she's working with me and arguing a lot less. We dip the tip in ferretone, I used to have to wait for a yawn and squirt, now she'll start licking and biting the tip for me, at which I squirt and give her time to finish. Yesterday feedings were about 4 cc's of this mix, today we managed a 4 cc and then a 6 cc so far. In total on Wed she probably ate 8 cc's, Thurs maybe 10-20 cc's. Today I'm going to try for a full 35 cc's if she'll have it. I don't want to push her, this is about as much as she's interested in at a time, I make sure to get her up every few hours to eat such small amounts.
Her stool is coming out just about normal and firm, a little soft probably from the Clavamox. There is accompanying urine, never a lot. She gave me kisses when I woke her up at lunch (I just started bawling, she's not given me kisses since before she stopped eating) and her tongue felt pretty wet. I can't tell if her gums feel sticky or what. I'm not very good at the scruff test. I'm still worried about the fluid intake and would appreciate any thoughts anyone might have about what I need to watch for. I'm probably just paranoid, but I worry because of her lack of fluids for possibly two to three days before she got sub-q. Could she have any organ damage, or if systems seem to be functioning and she continues improving are we looking good? I don't know what to be aware of.
About the urinary tract infection, hopefully this is what the main problem was and nothing else. She went off her food and water on a Sunday, we convinced her to eat some ferretvite and lick a little of the "soup" Monday and Tuesday. She got sub-q Wed morning at the vet's and got put on Clavamox. It wasn't until Wed evening that she started to repeatedly try to urinate and nothing would happen. What other symptoms might she have been showing that we missed? All we could tell was that she wasn't eating or drinking and wanted to sleep more often rather than play.
One other question. Considering that she is only a little over a pound in weight right now, am I being paranoid about the little amounts I'm managing to get in her to eat? Should I just be patient and continue to increase amounts with each feeding?
Thanks all,
Maureen, Paxie, and NikkoBear