From:
krhill1973@yahoo.com
Date: 2005-06-22 23:35:11 UTC
Subject: my ferret has been sick for 6 months
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <30752603.1119490828421.JavaMail.nobody@vanadium.smartgroups.com>
thanks for your time. i've been taking my buddy to a vet in the newport beach area
and he cant figure out whats wrong. we've tried every antibiotic and medice known
to the medical field and treated him for every common ferret disease. we've been
able to get him down to 3 main symptoms. his current meds are prednisone,
claritan/benadryl,pepcid a/c or pepto bismo. he stopped eating for 5 months in
which we force fed him and kept him alive. he had running stools and fatigue. now
he's eating marshal farms dry food and poop is good, hydration good. the prob is
he will swell bilat on his feet, ears and face. usually once a week, usually controlled
by steroids. next is heartburn which is controlled well with the pepcid. the worst
symptom is his constant itching. this seems not to be affectd by the antihistamines.
he's now getting soars due to the constant irritation. we know it could be allergies
but he was swelling even with different kinds of foods and meds. could prednisone
cause this irritation being contrindicated since it's main job is too decrease swelling
and itching? any other recomendations other than steroids? please help me....my
other ferret died last week from a freak intestinal blockage(the intestines swallowed
itself, unrelated to any symptoms from this one). my vet said he's contacted
specialist around the country and would publish this case if we could figure it out.
thanks for your time, travis and lemmiwinks