Message Number: FHL2641 | New FHL Archives SearchFrom: ferrethealer@aol.com
Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2007 19:41:01 EDT
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [ferrethealth] Mastitis Re cannot understand reason for death Digest Number 922
In a message dated 10/02/07 6:34:17 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com writes:
Just had to make sure I understand this right:
So the vet have make a mistake in the ultra sound?
**I have not found ultrasound to be of great value in diagnosing pregnancy =
in
ferrets, except in the hands of someone familiar with ferret reproduction,=
which it seems like perhaps your vet is not, given the earlier post. Even =
then,
it is not as reliable in them as it is in some species, IMO.**
Have some more questions:
What is Gangrenous mastitis?
**Gangrenous mastitis is often called E-coli mastitis, as that is the
bacteria that causes it.**
How can her kits and herself survive 5
weeks if she had an infection?
**They didn't. The infection likely began shortly before death, if this wa=
s
indeed the cause of her death.**
Why wasnt there any high temperature in
her?
**There may have been early on, but once an animal goes into shock, the
temperature is often low.**
What is the course of this coming? Is the tumor a symptom of this
infektion or what is the reason for that as I read it it wasnt cancer?
**Again, it's an infection caused by E-coli bacteria. If you are referring=
to the tumors in the pancreas, that is totally unrelated (although it may b=
e
genetic to some extent).**
What is the symptoms of this sickness and is it possibel to safe the
jill ?
**Symptoms are variable, but often the jill is perfectly normal at one poin=
t
(say in the morning) and dead or on the verge of death twelve hours later w=
hen
the owner gets home from work. A few symptoms may be black or dark purple=
spots on the breasts, painful breasts, not eating, not allowing the kits to=
nurse, a *sick* jill. Most simple mastitis ferrets will not act all that i=
ll. If
caught early on, a jill may survive given very aggressive treatment
(surgical) to remove the infected tissue. The jill should never be bred ag=
ain, as milk
production will not be normal, and the infection may recur.**
I Had a jill last year dying of a "ordinary" closed mastitis 3 days
after giving birth. It was same hob used on both jills can it be him
that carry the infektion OR what am I doing wrong :(
**I have never heard of a "closed" mastitis. Are you referring to a uterin=
e
infection? That would be a pyometra, and that's usually not related to the=
hob (although it can be), but can be related to a retained placenta or fetu=
s.**
Should I write Gangrenous mastitis as reason of death and is it
something the kits would have a larger risk of getting? Would it be
okay using one of the kits when it is 2=BD-3 years if none of the 8 kits
show signs of weakness?
**It would be my best guess, but it's not 100% that it was the cause of
death. It has not been shown to have a genetic component, to my knowledge.=
Just
sheer bad luck for the jill. However, I would be hesitant to breed the
offspring of a jill who had insulinoma, personally, especially at the young=
age that
she was. Or at least screen them very closely for signs of low blood sugar=
.**
Dr. Ruth
*****************************************
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