From:
Teresa Knezek
Date: 2004-06-08 20:30:48 UTC
Subject: metronidazole...
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-Id: <a05111b02bcebcedd7167@[192.168.1.28]>
I have a girl who is showing signs of helicobacter (which killed one
of her cagemates last year)... Grinding teeth when she eats, not
eating enough (I have her on Bob C's gravy now, and her energy level
is improving a lot), losing far more weight that spring shedding
should cause. (She's not vomiting when she eats her gravy, or the
crunchy meat treats I give them, and the litter box looks fairly
normal... So it doesn't seem like a partial blockage to me.)
So I got her on antibiotics -- Amoxicillin and Metronidazole -- and
it is not working out well. My boy last year absolutely hated the
'zole, but he was always a pretty mellow ferret so I could get him to
take it. This girl, OTOH, has a thrashing fit and vomits the
antibiotics back up every time I try to give her the 'zole (getting
her to take the amox is bad enough). I can't imagine it's going to do
her much good, if it's only in her stomach for a couple of minutes.
Not to mention, she tears my arm to pieces while I'm trying to keep
her scruffed...
I have the 'zole compounded in cod liver oil, which I used to think
would mask the taste of anything. Obviously not metronidazole, which
must be the most vile tasting substance on earth.
I had an idea, and I'm hoping someone here could tell me if it would
work. I'm very good with the "pill at the back of the tongue" trick
with cats, and I was thinking if I mixed a very thick gelatin
solution, mixed the 'zole in it, and used a syringe to measure out
small single-dose "gumdrops" of the 'zole, I could get the 'gumdrop'
to the back of her throat, so she might swallow it without really
tasting the stuff.
Would the gelatin break down quickly enough in her digestive tract
for her to get the full effect of the antibiotics? And I notice I've
never seen ferret medication dispensed in pill form, so I'm wondering
if there's a reason ferrets just shouldn't take pills (maybe they
have a higher chance of choking than a cat or something)?
(With my boy last year, I tried repeatedly suggesting biaxin and
carafate to my vet, but he wouldn't prescribe anything that wasn't in
his copy of "the pink book" so I was stuck with the 'zole/amox
combo...)
--
:: Teresa ::
http://rant.mivox.com/
"The greatest power is often simple patience."
-- E. Joseph Cossman