From:
earlbecke@melted-dreams.net
Date: 2006-06-11 09:16:07 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Help with my ferret?
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Okay, this is going to be pretty long because it's been an ongoing problem =
and I'm not sure what details are actually important. :)
My ferret Susie had pretty severe diarrhea (almost totally liquid) a month =
ago and since it wasn't clearing up on its own (she's had it occasionally b=
efore but it usually went away within 24-48 hours and it was NEVER this bad=
) I took her in to a nearby clinic on May 12th. She was acting totally norm=
al and eating a TON. (I assume since nothing was really going through her s=
ystem. I'd be hungry too.) She lost what felt like a lot of mass but weighe=
d in at 1.5 lbs which I believe is still an acceptable weight for a ferret?=
The Dr. did a fecal sample and said it just seemed that she had a lot of b=
acterial overgrowth and put her on amoxicillian, .4cc twice daily for 10 da=
ys.
I made sure to keep her hydrated, giving her plenty of water and some pedia=
lyte. After ten days it was clearing up and her stools were mostly normal -=
- a little loose, but nothing I was concerned about. She was pretty much ac=
ting like her usual self, although I realized she wasn't eating enough on h=
er own, and that this was because she's a very picky eater and she prefered=
the baby food I'd been giving her occasionally and mixing her medicine int=
o (otherwise she wouldn't eat it! she needed to take it with food anyway so=
I assumed this wasn't a problem). I had a very bad experience a couple of =
years ago with my other ferret refusing to eat a new brand of kibble and sh=
e almost starved herself to death before we could find a store that carried=
the old stuff, so it seemed to me more like pickiness than loss of appetit=
e -- and I know just how picky ferrets can be! So I've been trying to get h=
er back onto eating her normal food. She's been eating a mixture of moisten=
ed food and dry kibble and seems to have gotten used to the taste again.
A week later her symptoms were coming back and her diarrhea was getting pre=
tty bad, so I figured she just wasn't on the antibiotic long enough, and si=
nce it had cleared up her symptoms to begin with and nothing else seemed se=
riously wrong save for a couple of days where she was really fatigued, I as=
sumed that must be the only thing wrong with her. I had lots of it left ove=
r so I just resumed giving her the previously prescribed dose and it's been=
clearing up again. Her stools have been almost totally normal lately. I th=
ink it's been about 10 days since then but I'm not quite sure. Whatever it =
is I'm pretty sure the antibiotic has been fixing.
BUT...lately it's been really hard to get her to eat. I can hand-feed her m=
oistened kibble (no more baby food because I want her to eat normally) and =
can about half the time coax her into eating her normal kibble. She's been =
sometimes eating it when she's hungry but not reliably so I've made sure to=
feed her by hand every 4-6 hours, usually ending up carefully force-feedin=
g her a little by the end since she won't eat much off my fingers before tr=
ying to run off. (Which she DOES NOT like! :) She's gained back a lot of we=
ight and I think she's close to where she was before she got sick, so that'=
s good. =
Yesterday (well, I guess it's late so it was technically a couple of days a=
go now) I couldn't get her to eat much in the morning and she seemed to hav=
e a lot of stomach pain and had a couple of bouts of pretty bad diarrhea ag=
ain. I think it might just have been that she drank way too much water and =
didn't eat much, but after that passed she seemed hungry and ate a lot of h=
er normal food and was acting okay, although really exhausted. I think she =
slept most of the day and didn't want to play. She seemed to be a little we=
ak, standing sort of weird, kind of dragging her back legs beneath her, but=
she seemed otherwise okay and her balance was alright. Very slight, almost=
unnoticeable weakness, which could have just been fatigue. She was having =
a few problems climbing up the steep ramp to the second level of her cage b=
ut insisted on doing it anyway. I figured this was probably just because of=
the pain and diarrhea earlier because that can make someone feel really we=
ak for a little while, right? She's had some weakness after passing really =
nasty stools before but always recovered within a few hours.
Today her stools have actually seemed mostly totally normal for the first t=
ime in a while. Starting this afternoon/evening, though, and this is what I=
'm really really worried about, she's exhibited really severe hind limb wea=
kness, to the point where she was having real trouble walking. She would ta=
ke a step and fall over and have to stand back up. I've never seen her act =
like that before. After feeding her and giving her some water she seemed to=
be more energetic and stronger, and even though she couldn't move as fast =
or as well I think she was restless from sleeping so much the day before an=
d she wandered around exploring and playing for a really long time -- she j=
ust didn't want to go back into her cage! So her behavior was normal but th=
e limp--definitely not.
The weakness in her legs has fluctuated all night, from barely being able t=
o stand and walk to (attempting, mostly succeeding) to run around, but taki=
ng long breaks every few minutes before getting back up and walking around =
some more. Now she seems very responsive and is acting normally (although I=
think she wishes I'd stop disrupting her sleep to make sure she's okay! :)=
but she's having trouble standing or walking. I'm really really worried ab=
out this because it seems to be getting worse and I don't know what to do. =
She has been moving around a lot up and down and around her cage (god only =
knows how) and I think, with a little trouble, she's been able to make it u=
p into the litterbox when needed. It's so sad because I can tell she wants =
to run around and play but she can't. :(
Can anyone tell me what might be wrong with her? She seemed totally fine a =
couple of days ago. This weakness is really sudden and extreme. I thought a=
t first it might be related to stomach/intestinal pain but now it seems to =
be much more serious than that. Also, should I take her to an emergency cli=
nic as soon as possible (couldn't do it till morning, though--need someone =
to drive me) or will she be okay if I wait until regular clinic hours on Mo=
nday? I'm really concerned but it's the weekend and so I couldn't take her =
to the same vet she saw before. I'm afraid by Monday things could be really=
bad, so I don't know if I should wait until the regular clinic opens up.
I think that's everything. I'd really appreciate any help anyone can give m=
e! Thanks!
--Julie
=
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