From:
"Danee DeVore"
Date: 2008-01-20 04:24:15 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Almost a tragedy
To: <ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com>
Last night we almost had a tragedy here at our house that could have
resulted in the loss of 9 lives. I apologize for the length of this, but
feel the details are important so that other ferret breeders might recognize
the problem if this ever happens to them.
Here is what happened.
Currently, I have a ferret (Val) with a litter of 8 two week old kits.
Yesterday evening, she started acting strange. She was suddenly very hyper,
and did not want to stay with her babies, and did not want me to touch her.
Now, she sometimes wants out of the cage for a short run, but after a few
minutes will come back and try to climb up to get back into the cage. Last
night, she ran and hid. After about 10 minutes, I put her back with the
babies, but kept an eye on her.
She was also sneezing a lot - like one right after another. I checked her
nose, because I thought maybe she had gotten a hair stuck in it. I could
find no irritant.
About an hour later, she started getting very hyper and nervous again, so I
got her out of the cage, and set her on the sofa. She started having a
seizure, but not like an insulinoma seizure. Her body was curved, and she
held her front legs stiffly in an odd position. After a few seconds, she
tried to get up and walk, but could not use her front legs. Her eyes were
also teary and vacant looking.
I knew something was very wrong. It was Friday night, after normal vet
office hours, and so the only choice was the Emergency Vet. I called to let
them know I was coming, and packed up the babies and Val and took off. When
we arrived, a tech came up and took Val and the babies into the back,
leaving me to fill out paperwork. After a few minutes the tech came back,
and asked permission for a BG test. I was pretty certain it wasn't a BG
problem, but gave permission. The tech came back out and got some verbal
information about what I had observed, what Val had been eating during the
day, etc. all in addition to the history I provided in the paperwork.
The tech left, and then came back about 5 minutes later. Val's BG was
normal, and they wanted permission to do a calcium level test. Again, I
gave permission. After about another 5 minutes I was escorted into an exam
room, and told the vet would be in to see me shortly.
When he came in, he explained that Val's calcium level was a fraction of
what it should be. This was apparently what was causing the seizures, and
could have killed her if I had waited even a few more hours to seek help.
He asked me about her diet.
Val was eating a "natural diet" - mice, chicks, adult ground rabbit, chicken
and duck, and was being supplemented with a mixture of ground Innova EVO,
Carnivore Care, and KMR (Kitten Replacement Milk). Unfortunately, while I
had bred her, we thought she was falsing, and so I was not really
supplementing her during her pregnancy. After the babies were born, I cut
the chicks out of the diet, and was feeding only adult mice, because I know
that chicks are low in calcium. Her diet just did not have enough calcium
in it to support her and 8 babies.
I spoke at length last night with the Emergency Vet about her diet. He is
not opposed to feeding a natural diet, but cautioned that during pregnancy
and lactation, it may not have enough to support a large litter. In the
wild, ferrets, polecats and weasels usually have small litter - only 3 or 4
babies at a time. Val gave birth to 12 babies. The largest one was
stillborn, and we lost the 3 smallest ones during the first 48 hours. But,
since then, she had been supporting 8 other lives in addition to her own.
So, even though only 8 have survived, during the 6 week gestation, all 12
were depleting her calcium level. And, because we thought she wasn't
pregnant, I was not supplementing her calcium level before she delivered.
The treatment was for her to get IV injections of a calcium supplement. The
vet explained that the calcium has to be given slowly over about a 20 minute
time period. Too much calcium in the blood at one time could cause her
heart to stop. He cautioned that while he thought he could bring her
around, there were risks, and no guarantees. I would have to leave her and
the babies there until she was stabilized.
Val came through the night, but was still not stabilized this morning, so
she had to stay at the hospital until late this afternoon. Tonight, she and
her babies are back home, though.
Val will not be able to have any more litters - it would be life threatening
to her. In fact, the ER Vet said the current litter should be taken from
her and hand fed. I spoke to my regular vet this morning (she had seen the
ER report) and she said that Val definitely can not be called upon to be
their main source of food. But, she also feels the mother/kit bond is
important, and like me, worries that if Val is not nursing at all, she might
cease to recognize the babies as hers. Her suggestion was I leave the
babies with Val, but feed them by hand as much as possible and only let them
nurse a little. We will have to closely monitor Val's blood calcium level
while they are nursing, and Val will need heavy duty calcium supplements, to
be safe.
Does this mean a totally natural diet is dangerous for pregnant jills? Not
necessarily. It definitely is for Val, but just like humans have some
variations in their nutritional needs, so do ferrets. Val may just need
more calcium then the average ferret. Still, this is something I will be a
lot more careful of in the future, and I will be getting blood tests run on
my other natural feeders to make sure their blood calcium level is high
enough.
Meanwhile, I am having to tube feed the 8 babies every 4 hours around the
clock.
Danee DeVore
International Ferret Congress Health Issues Coordinator:
<http://ferretcongress.org> http://ferretcongress.org
ADV - If your ferret hasn't been tested, you don't know! For more
information visit:
<http://www.ferretadv.com> http://www.ferretadv.com
ADV - Find out how you can help:
http://help4adv.terrabox.com/
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