From:
"Jeff"
Date: 2008-05-24 21:28:35 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Re: food, supplements for IBD
To: <ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com>
I would suggest that you consider the possiblity that you're facing IBD (inflamatory bowel disease). After two months, it's unlikely that your ferret just has something that should be 'waited out'.
We have recently gone thru an almost identical process with Trinny, who is somewhere around 5 years old. But her poops were even worse, sometimes almost all mucuous. Our vet started with 2 weeks of amoxicillin and flagyl, along with Carafate. This was to make sure that the problem wasn't bacterial.
Things didn't change much, so she then went on a daily dose of prednisolone (0.33 ml, 5 mg/15 ml strength). This helped somewhat. But what has helped most is a change of diet. Our four ferrets used to eat primarily kibble (Totally Ferret), with some soup once every 2 or 3 days. Now they get a lot more soup, with Trinny getting the most of all. We've tried a few different 'recipes', but here's what I've found that works best, in order of amount used per soup batch:
1) A base of either Gerber's Stage 2 turkey baby food (all meat) OR some 95% meat canned rabbit (made by either Evo or Instinct)
2) Some Uncle Jim's Duk Soup Mix (increases protein and contains acidophilus, among other things)
3) Water
4) Either some plain canned pumpkin OR some slippery elm bark powder
Mix it well and heat in the microwave until warm, NOT too hot. They get this at least once a day, usually twice, and have kibble in the cage at all times. Their kibble consumption has gone down quite a bit, and while Trinny's poops are not perfect, they are far better than they were. We've continued with the Pred, but I may try weaning her off of that, if our vet agrees.
Below is a past post by Dr. Murray about IBD. You should search for others, and also read the article at Dr. Williams' site:
http://www.afip.org/consultation/vetpath/ferrets/index.html
Jeff
In Memory of Neo
Caring for Trinny, Morphy, Baby Girl, and Luna
QUOTE:
Sent: Saturday, July 28, 2007 7:08 PM
Hi Linda,
ECE is possible but not too likely because it
has been going on for so long. Most cases of
ECE recover in 1 to 2 weeks. IBD is more likely.
GI lymphoma is also a possibility. Were her globulins
and lipase elevated when she had bloodwork?
These are often elevated with IBD. Has a biopsy been
done of her GI tract?
For IBD there are 2 food options: 1) a food with a
different protein source (such as turkey, beef, pork,
fish, duck, rabbit, deer, etc.) or 2) a food with a very
low carbohydrate level. Of course a food with a new protein
source and a very low carbohydrate level would be best.
Totally Ferret has a new version for allergies/IBD that has
turkey, deer, fish, and lamb and a low carbohydrate level.
(www.totally ferret.com Totally Ferret ASP Turkey formula)
Now for the food she is eating. A protein level of 26%
is very low. A fat level of 8% is also very low. Both are
too low for ferrets.
Turkey and turkey gravy second stage baby food, Hill's a/d,
or Oxbow's carnivore care are all good protein supplements.
Likewise cooked meat with no bones such as beef, turkey, fish,
lamb, rabbit, pork, deer, eggs, etc can be used. Fish oil, flax seed oil,
Totally Ferret's emu oil, and/or eggs can all be added to increase
the fat content. Likewise cooked fat from beef, turkey, fish, lamb,
rabbit, pork, deer, etc can all be added to the food.
Hope that helps,
Jerry Murray, DVM
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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