From:
sukie crandall
Date: 2004-06-29 01:29:46 UTC
Subject: looks like bladder stones: need to pick brains
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-id: <CE472C8A-C96B-11D8-81D1-000A95CD182C@optonline.net>
On x-ray it looks like Mornie has a loose accretion of bladder stones.
23 years with never one ferret having bladder stones and now we've got
two.
With Hilbert the bladder malformation seemed to be the complete answer.
The chances of having a second with that weird and unusual malformation
are very low.
Something else is going on.
The water here is 7.3, slightly alkaline. Having some bottles of our
own tap water saved I can say that it has been in this range for at
least a month. For safety's sake we got some bottled water (which has
the pH of 6.1). 7.3 doesn't seem to be alkaline enough to be involved,
but that is only a guess. Could it be? I'm going to be asking the
county and water company for the most up to date water analysis of the
tap water.
We can't think of any non-food items which are digestible which they
might have eaten that would raise urine pH. Anyone?
We replaced their food to be safe. During Sherman's healing for his
IBD we've had a mix around of three very high protein foods. Two of
them we have used before, including with other ferrets: the first
version os Pretty Bird/Pretty Pet ferret food which was the pre-potato
version, and z-d. What IS new for them is Duck and Pea. I have to
contact Eukanuba to find out what pH they are seeing with it. The
other ferrets were able to access this -- till now when we've taken it
away completely from everyone.
Treats are sparse here. Whizbang (who has not shown any problems)
steals Steve's soy milk and my milk-milk. On and off they will have
one or two raisins but that is a few times a week at most. We've used
Nutrical, Nutristat, and Ferretone for years.
Mornie will have surgery on Wednesday.
There is of course, the chance exists that it is something other than
what it most looks like on x-ray, BUT here is the sequence of what
signs Mornie had and except for the vulval swelling and vulval
infection it matches what happened in Hilbert.
First she had constipation, starting late of Friday. We suspected a
foreign body but not an emergency because she was still (and still is)
extremely active, eating wonderfully and drinking marvelously. She
also was urinating well and since we were monitoring on paper we can
say accurately that the color was not wrong during that 36 hours.
After 36 hours we had her going with laxatives and then we let her be
with the others which pleased her greatly.
She still could not defecate without laxatives but we saw her often go.
Then yesterday her vulva swelled. By very late yesterday one side had
formed a discrete head and that burst and began to drain. Even after
that her entire vulva is still swollen though no where as big as it had
gotten.
In the wee hours of the night she began to indicate some straining and
some discomfort. At that point her urination was for the first time
suspect.
Today she went in to the vet and urinating has become very
uncomfortable for her now and it has an orange tinge so we suspect the
collected samples will show some blood. It was orange rather than
amber.
She has been on antibiotics since Saturday. We are hydrating her extra
even though she remains an excellent drinker. We have pain meds here
if needed. With a female the risk of backing up is far less than with
a male due to the short urethra and this has been caught rapidly.
Wednesday her bladder will be cleaned out surgically, adrenals looked
at, etc.
PLEASE FEEL FREE TO TEACH US. We need input on bladder stones.
BTW, the type of Lupron used in the Spring shot was the depot version
200 micrograms.
End of ferrethealth Digest
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