From:
"kristinepotter"
Date: 2008-05-09 22:54:16 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Re: Bloody Diarrhea
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
Hello again Lauren,
I does sound like things have gotten a "little" better. I "might"
consider the possibility that the stool isn't quite as loose because
the ferrets don't have as much fluid in their systems as they did
before. But one thing you can do to check their hydration is to
pinch a good deal of skin just below the area where you would
normally scruff them. If the skin doesn't quickly bounce back into
place, it could indicate they are dehydrated. Hopefully, you'll find
they aren't.
If you're concerned that they might not be drinking enough water
because of the flavor, I think it would be a good idea to force
fluids into them by using a syringe (if you don't have a sterile one
left over from a previous medication treatement, you can use a baby
syringe, and you can find those at any supermarket or pharmacy, such
as Walgreens). I know if you do a search for "dehydration" in the
messages, there have been some pretty reliable suggestions about how
much to give and how often (but make sure if you use those
suggestions that they include pedialyte or some other electrolyte
supplement in the instructions; you don't want to overdose them on
electrolytes either).
I know there is good info about syringing water for hydration because
I looked for it myself last weekend when my little boy-kid was
dehydrating. But one of the things that concerned me when I saw your
message was that, even though I got as much water into him as I could
using the syringe, he was still quite dehydrated when I got him to
the vet Monday morning. I ended up losing my little boy on
Wednesday, not due to dehydration, but I don't think it helped him
when he needed the strength to fight an infection that he got after
emergency surgery to remove hairballs. I miss him terribly, and I
would be so disheartened to learn that either of your ferrets have
something going on that's been causing their symtoms and that they
too were having to recover from dehydration in addition to battling
whatever is going on in their little bodies.
So, definitely seek as much advice as you can about keeping them
hydrated while you're waiting out the time to see your vet (which is
today, right?). And please post again to let us know what you've
learned from the appointment. It's always helpful to know what kinds
of symptoms indicate what types of problems/infections/diseases or
whatever that we can watch out for in our own ferrets. Again, good
luck to you and your little ones.
Kristine
--- In ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com, Lauren Catlin <ferretgrl04@...>
wrote:
>
> I looked in on my fuzzies this morning and the stool is much
better, no blood. I would not call the stool solid but it is at least
partially solid, much better than when you compare it to yesterday
when it was basically water. Thanks everyone for the advice. I trust
my vet, she knows all the details about the situation, i got to talk
to her on the phone. I have called other ferret vets in the area, and
i can honestly say that i have not found a better one. I am still
concerned, but i do feel a little better. They have half Pedialyte,
and half water in their bottles. I am not sure they drank much
though, because the water level does not look much lower. It is
flavorless pedialyte, but i tasted it and it is a little salty
tasting,
>
> kristinepotter <kristinepotter@...>
wrote: Hi Lauren,
>
> I hope things are going better with your ferrets.
>
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