From:
"Sukie Crandall"
Date: 2006-11-30 19:14:24 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Re: Ileus
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
Some people asked off-list what this is.
Ileus can be an obstruction or a failure of the intestine to create the motions needed to
pass things along failure of peristalsis). Sometimes there is also peritonitis with it.
Blockages don't always show up. Not passing waste allows a build up of toxins which is
quite rapidly dangerous.
Prompt emergency surgery tends to be the best thing to do, but this ferret beat the odds
by having an infectious cause, and I am so glad to read of improvement.
I know that sometimes in the very young a neural problem can be a cause, but not if it
would show up in this way at this age.
We had a ferret who came to us as "freebie" due to a paw deformity who also had GI
abnormalities that can be related to differences in nerve function. In his case he was not
able to pass food well from his stomach and later his small intestine also kicked up with
distention. He did have markings that are associated with neural crest genetic variations.
Although he did not have a head blaze or a panda head he did have extraneous white body
spotting beyond the normal standard markings.
I know that there are meds which can help the stomach pass foods, though Scooter could
not have them because his stomach became too thinly walled. Whether these would also
encourage the needed peristalsis in the intestines, I have no idea, and I don't know which
meds are used for that effect.
A friend's human child who had a section of intestine without working nerves had to have
that piece removed and until he was strong enough to do so they put him on an opiate
which helped pass things, but I do not know the particulars nor if it would even be
appropriate for a ferret.
Luckily, in this ferret's case the cause was a self-correcting infection. If someone can
explain the mechanism by which an infection would stop peristalsis I would be very
grateful for the learning opportunity.
This is the first time I have heard of this in relation to an infection.
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