From:
tlcoffey@sbcglobal.net
Date: 2005-07-22 17:43:08 UTC
Subject: RE: Teddy - fever, bloody stools, vomiting, mucous, stayed at the vets
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <6325280.1122054188998.JavaMail.root@thallium.smartgroups.com>
Yes, Teddy the litter eater :)
We switched to the shredded sterilized paper the same day I posted about finding the silica litter crystals in his stools. We cleaned out his cage completely and I've been giving him a dose of laxatone about every two days.
He used to have one of the hanging pocket beds that was lined with the fuzzy pretend wool. He had been chewing on that and there was a lot of missing fuss that I couldn't find so I took it out too and gave him some bath towels. He seems to leave those alone.
There is nothing within reach of his cage so he hasn't dragged anything in. The vet asked if there might be some kind of seed component in his food so I soaked the food that he's been eating last night and checked for anything that was hard or grainy. There wasn't anything.
I quit letting him have free run of the house several years ago because he has a thing for shoes, anything plastic or rubber and any kind shiny objects - paper clips, coins, pens, belts with shiny buckles - if you can think of it, he's tried to stash it in his hiding place under my bed. He'll go for paper if it makes the same sort of rustle like plastic but I've never known him to chew on it after he "kills" it.
Unless it is an accumulation of silica litter and bedding fuzz, I'm at a complete loss. I did leave a message for the vet this morning and asked if she could do a barium xray.
At the time I first posted about Teddy, she was thinking that he might have some kind of nasty evil thing ending in "oma" but that was when we were just trying to figure out why he was wasting away and his blood and urine levels were a little off. I haven't talked to her yet today but I'm thinking intestinal blockage and peritonitis - but then again, I'm not a vet - I just read enough to be "dangerous".
Teresa
Author wrote:
> Is this the individual who has a history of eating litter? What type of litter is being used now? Perhaps it might make sense to go to plain newspaper if this is that ferret. Have you looks for possible stashes of the litter he had been eating? What does the vet think the granules are?