From:
Ulrike
Date: 2007-04-13 14:46:07 UTC
Subject: Re: [ferrethealth] Re: difficulty walking
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
I think it happened over night, he was in his cage which is quite safe
and the next day he could barely move. The first thing I suggested to
the owners of course was that tests needed to be done. But they don't
seem overly keen on spending money. The inexperienced (ferret) vet
they saw suggested arthritis and the owners are happy to go along with
this diagnosis because it means they don't need to spend money on
tests. This is why I wrote to the list, I will forward replies to the
owners and if they see that it is not just my opinion that tests need
to be done, they may realise the necessity for testing.
Ulrike
On 13/04/07, sprite@ksu.edu <sprite@ksu.edu> wrote:
> This sounds like it might be injury related, a fall, stepped on, stuck
> between something. Certain injuries can affect the heart. Sometimes
> when trying to diagnose one might get focused on one aspect, such as a
> specific symptom, instead of the entire picture.
>
> Has an xray or ultrasound been done to look for broken bones such as
> rib or tissue damage (low percentage to find but worth a try)?
> Thoracic cartilage/muscle tears can cause chest wall inflammation which
> can compress bloodflow, nerves, and restrict lung expansion. Spinal
> injuries can too. Inflammation that restricts blood flow to the heart
> can cause abnormal heart beats, faster, slower, PVC's, etc.
>
> Since the metacam seems to help a bit for a short time you may want to
> talk to your vet to find out if prednisilone or dexamethasone might be
> more helpful. A different anti-inflammatory may work better for him if
> his symptoms are caused by inflammation. We've used pred or
> dexamethasone for minor muscle injuries with positive results.
>
> If this is an injury and his muscles are tightening you may want to ask
> the vet if there is something that will relax his muscles. I've used
> Natural Calm (magnesium citrate) myself and for me and those I've
> recommended it to it has relaxed muscles. I talked to our vet about
> using it in the ferrets, specifically for the calming factor, and he
> said the dosage would need to be very low because too much will cause
> diarrhea.
>
> Just a few thoughts to share.
>
> tle
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