From:
ferret-health-list@por-torres.com
Date: 2004-07-24 22:36:37 UTC
Subject: Vet Examination Procedure
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <5292949.1090708597447.JavaMail.root@thallium.smartgroups.com>
I took my ~7 year old male albino (KB) to the vet's because he had diarrhea (the projectile, liquidy kind) and was vomiting (or rather, attempting to vomit). I had never seen this particular vet before (long story short, the only one I had found in the area that seemed familiar with ferret med in on medical leave). Several things made me feel really uncomfortable with this vet, and left me wondering if I was just being over protective of KB. At first, I agreed to let him stay overnight, but after the examination was over (and subQ and xrays were taken) and I realized the vet didn't really seem to know that much about ferrets, I decided it was best to take him back home.
1. How far up does the thermometer go?
The vet took KB's temperature. He stuck the thermometer about 1.5-2 inches into his rectum. That seemed really far up to me. Does the amount you have to stick it in vary according to the size of the ferret (adult ferret, I'm sure it matters with kits as they are tiny)?
2. Leaving urine on fur is bad... right?
While he was taking KB's temp, KB urinated on himself. This was at the point when they thought they'd be keeping him overnight, so I watched to see if they'd take any action to clean him off. They didn't even attempt to wipe off his fur. I think they were just going to leave him like that. Ferrets, at least from my experience don't like when they get urine on them. Am I just being an overprotective maternal type, or should they have wiped him down at least a little? Doesn't urine contain bacteria, or something that would have not been healthy to just leave on him like that?
3. Can you use urine for a fecal test?
This seems like an obvious one, right? Only, when KB urinated on himself (he left a puddle on the exam table, the doctor said he wanted to run a fecal test on it. Now, since KB is male, his penis is in the middle of him; it's not like the doctor could have confused the urine for diarrhea. But wouldn't the urine have only been useful for a urinalysis, not a fecal test?
4. Fessing up versus universal (vet) knowledge?
When the vet first started the examination, he asked me if I had any ideas. I mentioned that another ferret in the family had EKE not so long ago (about a month now), but that KB had shown no signs of it. I've only had KB since the beginning of this year, so I figured he had probably been exposed to EKE when he was younger (I've read in several places that there is an extended or maybe "life long" immunity after exposure). The whole time I'm talking about ECE, I'm assuming the vet has heard of it before, and he keeps nodding along. At some point, I get curious and ask him "Are you familiar with ECE"? To which he replied "Um, no. Is it gastrointestinal"? I'm not blaming him for not knowing, but shouldn't he have been more upfront about it?
5. Drawing blood from a ferret.
Is drawing blood from a ferret difficult? I read they have collapsed veins, but I couldn't find any info (or why they are collapsed).
So, in the end, xrays showed no blockage. SubQ seemed to help some, I am finger feeding him, and his stool is much firmer now. I am on the search for another vet in the mean time.
Please share any insight you have.
Thanks,
Tiffany