From:
kay@polecat.org.uk
Date: 2005-08-20 21:44:22 UTC
Subject: Slow Heart Rate - any drugs available?
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <175385.1124574262627.JavaMail.root@thallium.smartgroups.com>
Hello,
I wonder if anyone can help me? Our much-loved 6-yr-old ferret has been diagnosed by our vet with a very slow heart rate (around 60bpm) and an enlarged spleen. She is also being treated with antibiotics for what he thinks is pneumonia, diagnosed after he X-rayed her.
Her lungs are recovering well, but her spleen is still enlarged and her heart very slow. She's also very thin. She seems still happy, though very tired after exertion, and she sleeps a great deal, deeply.
He is not optimistic about her chances, and says that although heart drugs would help, he doesn't know of any available in a suitable dose for a ferret. As she is so light, he says that she would need about a two-hundredth of a tablet...
He's going to ask his suppliers if there is anything they can supply that would be suitable for her. But if not, he expects her to deteriorate and would advise having her put down if things worsen, rather than have her suffer the headaches and weakness which go with this. We don't want her to suffer, but we also don't want to give up until we have to as she means so much to us. Without treatment, I don't expect she will last long.
Any advice you could give me on drugs which could be adapted for her would be hugely, hugely appreciated. Or indeed if you know of any other option. I don't care how expensive any treatment would be - we would pay whatever it took.
I've searched the archives but couldn't find anything similar - apologies if this has come up before.
Thanks,
Kay