From:
tlawford@verizon.net
Date: 2005-04-28 00:37:42 UTC
Subject: intestinal parasites
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <6012677.1114648662269.JavaMail.root@thallium.smartgroups.com>
Question about possible intestinal parasites. Ive got a sweet lil 5 yo girl=
, Coco Puff. One year ago she began to have respiratory obstruction, sort o=
f a honking in her throat with each expiration, maybe 5 on a scale of 10. I=
t dies down to a 3 when she is fully asleep and has much reduced breathing =
needs. Repositioning her neck can make it somewhat less. ITs always there, =
never goes away. I can hear it maybe 10' away. (I'm a doc for humans so got=
an albuterol inhaler to open airways and reduce secretions, but it doesnt =
make a difference.) Twice took her to vets who, quite logically said, maybe=
bronchitis, lets give her 10-14 days of antibiotics, baytril. Didnt change=
it. Maybe she has developed polyps in her respiratory tract, its not the f=
ull lung wheezing you hear in asthma (I and the vet listened with stethosco=
pes and agreed on this.) - Heart of my question: Today the light bulb came =
on over my head, we got a new pomeranian in the house 2 years ago who has n=
ever had been "De-wormed" with a any antihelminths. The dog and the ferrets=
mix maybe 30 minutes a week. Stats say that Southeast US coast dogs are 38=
% positive for this parasite unless you deworm them. These parasites breed =
in the intestines, go to a new phase, become blood borne, land in the lungs=
, then go yet to another phase and crawl up the bronchii, over the larynx t=
o be swallowed and begin the cycle all over. (I will have the dog's stools =
tested in the next two weeks. My own too) Question:: What do you think of t=
he possibility that Cokey Puff could have caught this from the dog, and her=
constant respiratory coughing and honking is simply the parasite constantl=
y slimming up out of the lungs, over the larynx to go back down into the in=
testine. (I usta know the name of this dog parasite, toxacara canii or some=
thing like that, will drag out my textbooks and re-read it). Appreciate an=
y comments on this one. Cokey Puff is on the fat side because she likes Ge=
rbers Turkey broth and it cured her recurrent ulcers for good, so I give he=
r all she wants. A small framed female ferret who weights 3.0 lbs. Corpulen=
t yes, maybe just excess fat makes her honk with each expiration, but I don=
t really think so. She's still quite vigorous and can hop up a flight of s=
teps quickly, even at age 5. I will be grateful for all comments. Thanx
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