From:
"Sukie Crandall"
Date: 2007-09-03 19:05:44 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Re: Ferret with cardiomyopathy
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
It sounds like you are doing a very good job to reduce physical and emotional stress.
When the heart disease is advanced that becomes especially important.
Here are some recent vet posts on the topic for others who are dealing with
cardiomyopathy in ferrets which will give you more information so I did two searches in
the archives to help you:
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL2306
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL2292
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL2317
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/YPG1467
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/YPG1341
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/YPG1093
Re:
> I can't give you advice about his treatment, but I do think that the vet is
> overdoing it a bit with the Fortekor. My 5 kg cat gets half a Fortekor 5 or
> a whole Fortekor 2.5 every day, so your ferret, maybe 1 kg, gets half of
> what a cat 5 times (or more) heavier gets. If it is considered a safe dose,
> I'd give a quarter Fortekor 5 every day.
Nanny, the dose needed can't be based on what
works for cats. There are a number of meds
where ferrets differ greatly on cats in relation to
what dose size works best.
Doses of meds are based on what works IN A
GIVEN SPECIES, the degree of illness, the body
weight and how that related (when it does) to the
dosing range in that specific species, etc.
That said, I do NOT know what the right dosing is
for a ferret, so it certainly could make perfect sense
for that to be asked about, but changing the dose
on one's own could be asking for real trouble.
Unless there are vets who think that the dosing
should be changed it is best to leave the dose at
what the treating vets said to use and call the
treating vet to ask questions before changing any
medication amount.
Sorry, I am a little touchy on this topic right now; I
just found out recently that some of the worsening
a relative in his final illness has had was due to he
and his elderly spouse (both 93) deciding on their own
to stop an essential med. He is now back on a working
dose and his quality of life is improving once again.
Sadly, people causing damage to their pets or themselves
by not following medication directions, combining meds
that should not be combined, using meds they should
not use, giving medical professionals incomplete
information, or using expired meds are far too common
avoidable occurrences.
Meds should not be changed without the treating
medical professional okaying it, and that person should
also know of all supplements, herbals, etc. that are
being considered beforehand. There is just too much
that can go wrong, and way too much that we amateurs
don't know.
Sukie (not a vet)
Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html
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