From:
ferretgm
Date: 2007-11-14 13:06:51 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] possible gastritis?
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
As a short recap, Ripper (age 2 1/2) started dry-heaving on Saturday, then became exhausted/not-really-responsive on Sunday. Took him to vet on Monday, where he still is.
After four x-rays, the only thing that looks abnormal on Ripper is his stomach lining. The vet says that it is quite thickened in places. On the fourth x-ray, it looked as though one portion of his intestine was thickened as well. The Monday mid-morning x-ray showed stomach stretched out with something - but nothing ever passed but very soft stool and mucous, and on subsequent x-rays, stomach not enlarged.
Ripper continues to have a lot of mucous in his stool. FWIW, he was only getting ferretvite at the vet's from Monday morning until Tuesday afternoon when I brought in some baby food; he ate half a jar for me last night. He is not dehydrated, hasn't had to have fluids, and doesn't appear to strain to move his bowels (and I had not noticed any straining at home). He does not appear to experience increased discomfort when eating baby food. Physically, he looks fine - glossy coat, pink paws and gums (so, not anemic), hasn't lost much of his 4 pounds of weight, does not appear to be bloated or retaining fluid.
Vet reports improved altertness Tuesday afternoon, as compared to Monday. When I visited last night, he was still in obvious discomfort, and couldn't enjoy my holding him for more than a few moments.
The vet suggests gastritis may the cause of his discomfort. He has run bloodwork (finally) to see whether Ripper has gross indications of lymphoma, and we should have that today. If lymphoma is suggested, he'll do a biopsy (although none of the external lymph nodes appear enlarged at all). Otherwise, he has given Ripper amoxi since Monday and started him on pred yesterday, for the potential gastritis.
Is there anything more we should/could do for him? I would hate to have lost valuable time.
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