From:
"Sue Liszewski"
Date: 2005-05-14 00:45:05 UTC
Subject: RE: [ferrethealth] Wasting ferret...possible causes?
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <BAY104-F384373AC161D9B2C36CEEFDC130@phx.gbl>
I did treat one that had a fur ball in the stomach that took up a lorge
portion but it would move so he never appeared sick On 2 occassions we went
in and surgicaly removed it. Reason I mention this is that when someone
else saw the ferret and everything came up normal he diagnosed ferret
wasting disease and said there wasn't anything that could be done. I then
evaluated him and took him to surgery. We removed the hair ball and he did
great. This ferret had lost half his body weight each time this occurred.
So wasting can occur despite them eating they may not be absorbing it. If
you can strenthen him enough this is the ferret I would take to surgery for
an exploratory ans have a look and a feel it is more conclusive then
ultrasound. Hope this helps.
Best of luck.
Dr. Sue
>From: amandadegraw@hotmail.com
>Reply-To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
>To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
>Subject: [ferrethealth] Wasting ferret...possible causes?
>Date: Fri, 13 May 2005 18:22:40 +0100 (BST)
>
>Sorry for the long post... I have a ferret named Cody (some of you may
>remember my posts about him...)of unknown age (probably around 6-7yrs) who
>is just skin and bones, and shakes a lot. More than your typical ferret
>would upon waking up. He has a good appetite. He has a grade 1 heart
>murmur. His glucose has been normal, but it has been a couple weeks since
>last checked, so he is going in to the vet next week. The last time at the
>vet, the blood values were normal, except signs of infection, so he was
>treated with amoxi and due to his history of gastroenteritis, was treated
>for an ulcer with carafate and kaolin-pectin. Radiology showed a slightly
>enlarged heart and haziness in the abdomen. Cardiomyopathy was suspected,
>so he was ultrasounded. This was done by a vet I work with, who is
>inexperienced with ferrets (I am a poor graduate student. She compared the
>way his heart looked to my two healthy ferrets and it seemed great. She saw
>no signs of cardiomyopathy. There still was a small amt of fluid in the
>abdomen and his spleen looked abnormal, so he was scheduled for sedation
>and abdomenal tap and aspirate of spleen. This was performed a week after
>the initial ultrasound. By the time the sedation occured, the fluid in the
>abdomen was no where to be found with ultrasound, and his spleen looked
>more normal thatn before. An aspirate was taken of the spleen and sent out
>for analysis, which can back normal.
>
>Here is my question....why is my ferret so bony? I know cardiomyopathy,
>insulinoma and lymphoma can cause this, but none of the tests we have run
>have led us to believe any of these diseases are present. Could it just be
>from years of chronic gastroenteritis, or does he have some underlying
>problem that tests aren't showing us? Could it just be old age?
>
>
>
>
>
>
>--
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