From:
"Sukie Crandall"
Date: 2007-04-14 17:52:27 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Re: Soup Treats
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
>I am awaiting some probiotics and digestive enzymes to use with my
>dog's new raw diet. Does anyone have any experience with using
>either of these items with a ferret diet?
>I heard that the probiotics were good for dogs that have been on
>antibiotics. Would the same hold true for ferrets?
>Thanks,
>Liz
Check with your vet BEFORE adding enzymes to any companion animal's diet. Unless
veterinary knowledge has changed doing so could reduce the production by the pancreas.
Years ago (many) we had a ferret who was losing weight from a cause that wasn't found
until her chest was later imaged by ultrasound (hypertrophic cardiomyopathy) but in the
quest to find the cause and not lose her from wasting we were strongly urged by some
ferret people to try adding pancreatic enzymes. Her treating vet said that we could use
the recommended med as long we continued it life long with her because it would add so
many enzymes that her pancreas's own action could later become insufficient.
(BTW, she regained weight after the cardiomyopathy was treated, and we did continue the
enzymes throughout the time she had left to her.)
There has been a lot of talk on other groups about raw meat having more enzymes in it
naturally, but that level is a lost drop in the bucket compared to what the pancreas makes.
I strongly urge reading the articles (See URL given yesterday) by veterinary professor,
Rebecca L. Remillard who has a PhD in nutrition and also a DVM (doctorate in veterinary
medicine) to anyone who is feeding prepared at home food for anything more than a
minor part of the diet, or who wants to quest in unusual directions.
In the case of trying pigeons, ask a vet who specializes in birds and an ornithologist for
your state F&G what the rate of avian Mycobacterium is like in pigeons there. I seem to
recall encountering an article on a very high rate in pigeons in one area but can't recall
details, and also find out from the vet what other possible serious pathogens may be a
consideration.
Here you go:
BEGIN QUOTE
Avian Dis. 2005 Sep;49(3):442-5. Links
Outbreak of avian mycobacteriosis in a flock of two-year-old domestic pigeons (Columba
livia f. domestica).
Bougiouklis P,
Brellou G,
Fragkiadaki E,
Iordanidis P,
Vlemmas I,
Georgopoulou I.
Clinic of Avian Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 11 St. Voutyra str., 54 627
Thessaloniki, Greece.
This report describes an outbreak of avian mycobacteriosis in a flock of 100 two-yr-old
pigeons. Over a 6-mo period, the sick pigeons showed cachexia followed by death. In
Columbiformes classic tubercles rarely develop, but in these affected pigeons
granulomatous nodular lesions of various sizes, containing numerous acid-fast bacilli,
were found in the internal organs. The lesions were observed in the liver, spleen, intestine,
bone marrow, ovary, and oviduct. Despite their breeding age, atrophy was also found in
the ovary and oviduct. Microorganisms belonging to Mycobacterium avium complex were
identified in the affected tissues by polymerase chain reaction.
PMID: 16252504 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
END QUOTE
That's the one I recall but more come up at PubMed so check there, too, for more. Oh!
just noticed this:
BEGINE QUOTE
J Vet Med Sci. 2005 Sep;67(9):951-3. Links
Bacteriological survey of feces from feral pigeons in Japan.
Tanaka C,
Miyazawa T,
Watarai M,
Ishiguro N.
Laboratory of Veterinary Public Health, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary
Medicine, Japan.
Some public areas in Japan such as parks and gardens can be highly contaminated with
pigeon feces. We examined levels of four bacterial contaminations in fecal samples from
feral pigeons in 7 prefectures. We isolated Salmonella Typhimurium and S. Cerro from 17
(3.9%) of 436 samples, as well as Mycobacterium spp. including M. avium-intracellulare
complex from 29 (19.0%) of 153 samples. The polymerase chain reaction detected
Chlamydia psittaci and C. pecorum in 106 (22.9%) of 463 samples, but E. coli O-157 was
not isolated from any of the samples. Our results indicate that pigeon feces are a source of
several zoonotic agents for birds, animals and humans.
PMID: 16210811 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
END QUOTE
Avian Mycobacterium is also at times called Avian TB because it is a TB relative, but it
primarily causes fatal intestinal illness instead of lung illness. Some serious TB relatives
that can be caught are primarily lung illnesses, some primarily intestinal illnesses, and
some primarily skin illnesses.
Notice in the study of pigeon feces multiple genera of bacteria that can be found in the
archives and vet texts as having caused serious and even fatal illness in ferrets. Pigeons
kind of have to worst of both worlds for being pathogen carriers because they don't have
the protection of captivity but they do have a major contagion problem found in farmed
birds: living in large flocks.
You can go to Pub Med to search more:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi
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