From:
"Lin"
Date: 2004-05-11 03:12:29 UTC
Subject: RE: In need of some advice
To: <ferrethealth@smartgroups.com>
Message-ID: <004701c43705$ce84f280$2602a8c0@woh.rr.com>
Whenever I hear anyone talk about extreme lethargy, I always suggest having=
the heart looked at in more detail.
I've mentioned this on this forum before, so at the risk of sounding repeta=
tive to those who have heard it:
My Ariel (who, at the time, was just getting ready to turn 3 yrs old) began=
having severe lethargy, as you described - just wanting to curl up & sleep=
at playtime. Her ears, nose, & gums were also almost white. After a *lot* =
of testing (including her heart), our vet managed to get an xray of her hea=
rt, which appeared to be slightly enlarged on the left side. We found someo=
ne who could do an echocardiogram & doppler studies on her, as well as a ve=
ry long EKG, & it was discovered that she had supraventricular tachycardia =
- her heart rate was spiking at an unbelievable 380bpm. There turned out to=
be no actual enlargment of her heart at that time - she simply had, at the=
moment that xray was taken, too large a volume of blood in her heart. Her =
heart was saying "beat again NOW", before it had a chance to process out th=
e blood it had just pumped in a fraction of a sec before. Had this gone und=
iscovered, she eventually *would* have had heart damage.
This condition is virtually undocumented in ferrets, & my vet is currently =
working on a paper on her to submit to a veterinary medical journal. He has=
since dx'd & successfully treated one other ferret w/ this condition, sinc=
e Ariel (who, BTW, is now a healthy, happy 4 yr old, thanks to about $6 wor=
th of Atenolol per month).
Again, it took several visits to our vet, & numerous xrays, before this app=
arent heart enlargement showed up on any pictures. We were extremely lucky,=
as well as very persistant - as was our vet.
If you current vet can't find anything else obviously wrong, see if you can=
get a referal to another ferret-knowledgable vet, or even a vet who specia=
lizes in cardiology, whether specifically in ferrets or not. As our cardio =
put it, a heart is a heart, & if there's a problem, any *cardio* should be =
able to find it w/ the right tests.
Good luck,
Lin