From:
RLoved@comcast.net
Date: 2005-01-10 15:03:34 UTC
Subject: When it rains it pours, Gus will meet Little Buster at the bridge..please
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <6963631.1105374637243.JavaMail.root@thallium.smartgroups.com>
Let me first start out by saying the I am a new member of this group. It w=
as reccommended to me by my vet.
I have a 5 1/2 year old ferret named Molly. She currently has adrenal dise=
ase that has not been operated on. Just recently, she has been diagnosed w=
ith Insulinoma and has been put on Prednisone for about a month while the v=
et stablizes her for surgery. The vet also suggested feeding her every fou=
r hours or so and giving her 0.5cc of Prednisone twice a day. This is my p=
roblem...Molly has now decided to stop eating. I can't seem to get her to =
eat and I was wondering if she was associating food with her medicine which=
we give her after she is finished eating. If this is the case, then how d=
o I stimulate her appetite enough to get her to eat again. Let me just tel=
l you that I have tried everything that the vet suggested. She doesn't lik=
e the chicken baby food and the homemade chicken gravy from the recipe that=
the vet gave me doesn't work either. Could her lack of appetite be caused=
by her adrenal disease and what should I do about it? Thanks for any help=
and advice that you can give to me.
=
=
To: ferret-list@cunyvm.cuny.edu,
ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
From: arobbin@schange.com
advise
Message-ID: <OF6EAC8BB7.E83AD1FF-ON85256F85.005141DC-85256F85.0052BFF7@schange.com>
2005 is not turning out to be my greatest year! In the wee hours of the
morning last Wednesday I found my Little Buster cold in his cage...gone.
Everything seemed to indicate liver failure, reason unknown. To be honest
I didn't have a necropsy done, because I was afraid of what it would show.
I beat myself up enough for mistaking his public piddling as adrenal
symptoms and I was waiting for confirming symptoms. Lesson
learned...don't ever take strange behavior for granted, it may not be what
you think it is.
Gus, his cagemate, (4.5 year old, deaf, panda, male, neutered at 6 months,
non Marshall Farms, gets along with no other ferrets other than Buster, he
beats the crap out of them), also seemed to be showing possible adrenal
symptoms, he began to smell funny, not typical "adrenal" odor. I remember
thinking he smelled like celery. Both had had exams three weeks before
and discussed my thoughts with the vet who agreed and said keep any eye on
them, they look fine, their weight is the same as it was last year etc.
Well with Buster's passing I thought, I better get Gus back to the vet for
a CBC. Well more bad news, Anemia and Kidney failure. However the vet
was surprised that his urine was clear, he has been drinking a lot of
water.
I tried to find treatment info on the FHL but got tons of messages but
not much about treatment...in my panic I may not have run the most
effective search. I have no idea what to try for this guy, can anyone
make any suggestions or share experience on how long they successfully
supported a ferret in this situation.
Here is a brief on his results (showing only what is high or low)
BUN 79.2 High
GLU 135 High
RBC 4.82 Low
HCT 25.6 Low
HGB 9.7 Low
MCV 53.2 Low
MCHC 37.8 High
EOS .004 Low
PLT 104 Low
In my fog of shock, I didn't really ask for clarification just about the
future, which is very unclear. Can anyone shed some light on this. I am
going to schedule an ultrasound to see if we can find the cause, however
the vet didn't seem very confident about the effectiveness of treatment.
Thanks for your help.
Amy Robbin