From:
"Kelly Fisher"
Date: 2005-07-11 00:06:55 UTC
Subject: sick ferret with a large combination of symptoms -- please help diagnose!
To: <ferrethealth@smartgroups.com>
One of my ferrets has very recently fallen VERY ill. Friday evening I
noticed extreme lethargy, and a marked loss in weight. He has been losing
weight for quite a while, which I attributed to his normal (and dramatic)
seasonal weight drop, but this years has been more dramatic than any before
it. It appears that over the past 2-3 days, he's lost a great deal more
weight than when I last played with him on Wednesday evening, in which
incidentally he was completely alert and playful. FYI - My ferrets have a
large dedicated portion of my basement in which to run 24/7 - an area which
they also share the with cat. Initially most of his symptoms were similar
to insulinoma (stupor, weak hind legs, smacking at the mouth) which I've
dealt with on two other ferrets, so I closely monitored his behavior after
giving him some sugary liquid, and even gave him a dose of the Proglycem
that I'm currently administering to another ferret. However, his lethargy
did not improve. I've noticed that he also was having diarrhea, something
that he's exhibited before, but only occasionally, and never for more than a
day. Now the diarrhea is constant, which, from what I've read is not a
symptom of insulinoma.
Saturday morning I took him to my local vet, who also agreed that insulinoma
was an unlikely culprit, so he gave me a mixture of Baytril and Prednizone
to try to see if this is being caused by some sort of intestinal bacterial
infection, or even IBD.. but after 2 days of dosing he is not improving at
all, plus he is now beginning to discharge a very thick black tarry stool,
which appears to indicate some sort of ulcer or bleed in the upper GI area.
He's not eating or drinking on his own.. I'm giving him 1cc of duck soup
(A/D with heavy cream and water) every hour supplemented by ferretvite, hand
feeding water, and I've just now begun to add some pepto to the mix. His
condition doesn't appear to be worsening, but it's certainly not improving.
Here is a list of his symptoms:
Lethargy
Smacking at the mouth
Occasional but very short lived stupor - he's usually quite
alert
Weak hind legs
Diarrhea now progressing to black, tarry stool
Loss of appetite
Weight loss
Nausea
Drooling
Sporadic incontinence
Does anyone have any clue what might be causing this? I'm going to be
bringing him to see the vet first thing tomorrow morning, but I'd like to
have a better idea of what might be causing this problem so that I can lead
my vet in the right direction. Right now we're just taking stabs in the
dark.
Thank you very much,
Kelly Fisher