From:
sukiec@optonline.net
Date: 2006-02-07 20:32:34 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] RE: tlcoffey
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
You will find more in the FHL Archives. I have been practically peeling down my brain trying to recall the name of a ferret who turned out to have a huge number of food intolerances and EGE, but this morning I remembered a key word to help me find it, and the name is this: RinkyDink (Spelled as one word.). You will find info in the FHL Archives (addy in my signature) on his case.
The cause of persistent diarrhea is one of the hardest things to pin down. Diarrhea can be caused by illness, parasites, sometimes insulinoma, food intolerances, EE also termed EGE (Eosinophylic Gastroenteritis, or Eosinophylic Enteritis), colitis, and even the catch-all IBD. Some with the sorts of markings associated with neural crest genetic variants can have genetic problems involved. Some have multiple things at once.
For IBD I think that the most intense thing we went through with Sherman will include a number of meds that are often used with IBD, in case some of those may be useful:
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/browse.php?msg=SG8983
Remember that the list is for severe, long term IBD with secondary infection so it is extreme and he was gradually weaned off many of the meds. For him Imuran was a very helpful approach. He also had a special diet tried but that didn't help him. It did help another ferret, Scooter, who had IBD on top of a genetic GI malformation and who turned out to to have an intolerance to all poultry (but zd could be eaten because the proteins were broken down enough to be safe). Scooter also responded well to Imuran for a while but then one of his treating vets didn't want to give it longer term.
For both Prednisolone (like Pediapred) had to be given instead of Prednisone because that way the liver processing step was skipped.
If it is IBD, then what helps may change over time. That often happens with bad cases. We found that sometimes steroids and an antibiotic would be helpful, but had to keep changing the actual meds.
Some people who have ferrets with milder cases find that adding dietary fiber helps a lot. For more serious cases it can sometimes give a temporary reprieve which can help the meds and diet changes work a bit better, so can be useful that way. What is often used for this is unsweetened pumpkin puree such as the baking section of your grocery store will have.
To soothe a stomach it is best to use the manufaturer's liquid prep of Carafate. The alternatives feel too chalky going down.
A chronically inflamed intestine can take a very long time to go down.
The single worst mistake we made with one with IBD was we tried adding a little heavy cream to his diet when we needed to regain some weight. He personally had a major intolerance and it almost killed him. These characters with severe intestinal illness can be very tender and very individual, so it pays to keep notes and then look over them for patterns.
-- Sukie (not a vet)
Ferret Health List co-moderator
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