From:
"Bruce Williams, DVM"
Date: 2007-11-04 12:04:46 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Re: Ferret suddenly died - need input
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
--- In ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com, "xxxxxxx" <xxxx@...> wrote:
>
> Male ferret, age 5, had adrenal surgery last year around
> September/October 2006. Grew back some fur, stopped being
aggressive.
>
> His poo the night that I saw he had crashed, was dark and tarry.
When
Dear xxxxxxx:
the most common cause of unexpected sudden deaths in ferrets is
severe hemorrhage due to a large gastric ulcer. In the right place
in the stomach, at the entrance to the small intestine, the blood
vessels run so close to the surface, that an ulcer will cause fatal
hemorrhage. When you mention that you saw dark tarry stools shortly
before him passing away, it is almost a foregone conclusion that this
was the cause of death. A gastric ulcer like that rarely shows
significant signs in the bloodwork, except anemia.
Unless your vet knows much about ferrets I am betting that he misses
it on the "free necropsy". Also the issue about not using lupron
because he previously had adrenal surgery - that is nonsense. From
your description, he was having recurrent adrenal disease, likely
from the other side, and lupron was an acceptable approach for
control (although I prefer another surgery). The stress from
recurrent adrenal disease is enough to cause an ulcer.
Please don't feel guilty. Ulcers come on suddenly, and can progress
quickly. This is why I always caution owners to treat them
aggressively.
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, DVM
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
mailto:ferrethealth-digest@yahoogroups.com
mailto:ferrethealth-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
ferrethealth-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/