From:
FertsRock@aol.com
Date: 2005-06-13 03:05:11 UTC
Subject: strange problem
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <1ee.3d981578.2fde51e7@aol.com>
Hi everyone :-)
Hoping someone here can shed some light on a problem that my ferret Kodiak
has been having. He's had several episodes of this happen. He's almost 8 1/2 yrs
has insulinoma on Pred (1mg/ml) 0.5cc BID. adrenals ar a little enlarged, has
a cyst on one of is kidneys (sorry-can't remember which one) He was very ill
last october. Became acutely lethargic, was having diarrhea, and wasn't eating
well. His liver values were pretty high, so we hospitalized him on iv fluids,
ampicillan, metronidazole, and started him on actigal.
(I'm a vet tech by the way) Ultrasound showed a small cyst/mass in the liver
that was obstructing the bile duct. Anyway, after almost a week in the hosp.
he started eating his dry food in addtion to the duck soup he was being fed
q4hrs, his liver values gradually came down and he pulled through. He started
having these episodes of his hind paws and sometimes one of his front swelling.
Usually one is more swollen than the other, and they are inflammed and warm to
the touch, and other times their normal colored and cool to the touch? It
seems to happen every few weeks. Two of the vets I work with, one of which is an
exotics specialist, have never seen it in ferrets before. They both think it
looks like vasculitis but don't know what's causing it? It started happening
several months ago. We recently d/c'd the Actigal in early May and he's currently
on a course of amoxi/pepto/metronidazole for ulcers in his mouth. Has anyone
ever seen or treated this before? Any and all input/opinions are very
welcome!!! Sorry this was so long, just trying to give as much info as possible.
Thanks everyone and I look forward to all your help!!
Tracy