Message Number: SG13691 | New FHL Archives SearchFrom: sukiec@optonline.net
Date: Mon, 2 May 2005 21:40:29 +0100 (BST)
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Subject: Re: [ferrethealth] Stools too loose since last chicken gravy batch
Message-ID: <4185642.1115066429825.JavaMail.root@thallium.smartgroups.com>
Some ferrets with IBD get stool firming if canned unsweetened pumpkin puree=
is given with food.
When IBD is present there is no one cure-all, and ferrets who respond to so=
me treatments may have those approaches fail after a while. This is likely=
partly because IBD is a diagnosis of exclusion: if another cause is not f=
ound IBD is the term used, so the level of the problem and the factors feed=
ing into it can vary. Some respond to some fiber in the diet. Some respon=
d to having certain proteins (animal or vegetable) removed from their diets=
. Chicken and corn are common ones but that does not mean that they are th=
e right ones for all of the ferrets who do have a dietary component. Some =
of these ferrets respond well to antibiotics, some to steroids, some a chem=
o approach such as Imuran. Many need medication combos. The stools are lo=
ose, and often very strong smelling and foul, and the problem is not interm=
ittent except at a low level so it's not like someone whose ferret has runs=
every few months needs to worry at all about this. The abdomen can be blo=
ated from inflammation. There can be ocassional crashes which go from bad =
to far worse in the ones with very bad IBD. It is possible to lose a ferre=
t to such a crash and they can be caused easily, for instance, Sherman's ne=
xt to last one was caused by an attmept to get a few more calories in with =
heavy cream. (His crash did not kill him; instead he developed an allergy t=
o a medication he'd been getting and that killed him.) At one point to get=
Sherman through a crash he needed as many as 20 doses of carefully timed a=
ssorted meds each day. Once past that he was able to go to just minimal me=
ds again. His was a severe case, obviously. Long term IBD may possibly (h=
ypothetical) be a contributing factor toward developing lympho but it can b=
e terminal in and of itself when it is bad enough. It is thought that a nu=
mber of IBD cases may heppen due to intestinal damage from ECE. Hopes are =
that the work of Dr. Matti Kiupel may eventually lead to a a vaccine to pre=
vent ECE, thus also hopefully protecting ferrets from IBD and maybe from so=
me cases of lymphoma. (It's not an easy problem and grant money for ferret=
-only studies is underfunded and therefore hard to get which also puts dela=
ys into studies.)
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Send comments to Pam at pjdutche@email.unc.edu. Please note that this address is only useful for questions about the FHL archive. Questions about ferret health, or those intended for the FHL, should be sent to the Ferret Health List.