From:
"Tressie"
Date: 2008-08-19 11:09:17 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Re: UTI - possible stones??
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
I have a 3 =BD year-old gib who was surrendered together with his 4 =BD
yr. old companion to our rescue organization at midnight August
1st. Both gibs were anorexic and seriously dehydrated having had
diarreah according to their recent owner for the 2 months she had
them. She had acquired them from another woman who rehomed them
because she couldn't look after them any longer. Sampson (3 =BD yr.
old) had watery `black' stools. Both were so lethargic and
dehydrated they couldn't walk.
My ferret knowledgeable vet had left for a 2 week vacation the day
before. I gave them Pedialyte, duck soup mix of chicken baby food
and Carnivore Care every 4 hours for 2 days, then started them both
on Sulcrafate and Amoxicillin and Biaxin. By Day 10 both had
stabilized, diarreah disappeared and they had gained weight.=20
However, I noticed with Sampson that he had persistent wetness around
his penis. That seemed to improve with the antibiotics but never
went away entirely.
Yesterday I had them both in for health check and Distemper
vaccinations. Sampson's penis was quite red, which it hadn't been
the day before. The vet and I discussed various possibilities and he
gave me an antibiotic cream to put on the penis and I agreed to watch
him for a few days to see how things went. When I put the cream on
his penis it was instantly washed away indicating he was dribbling a
tiny amount. I did this 3 times and even rubbed it in but it always
was washed away within seconds.
Last night he had trouble urinating but after the third attempt he
did manage a small amount. I saw what appeared to be 2 tiny dark
coloured grains in the urine. I decided that I would bring him in
the next day for a urinalysis since I suspected stones. Specifically
I am suspecting struvite uroliths because these boys were fed a diet
of fruit loops and cheap cat food from the time they were kits.=20
At midnight last night Sampson started vomiting and whining and I
rushed him to the Emergency Animal Hospital. They did an x-ray and
outside of a slightly enlarged spleen did not find any stones =96
prostate and bladder appeared normal on the x-rays.
Urinalysis results:
Ph 7
Protein 30 ml/dl
Specific gravity 1.039
Sediment RBC 2+
WBC 4+
Diagnosis: UTI
He was put on Baytril .2 cc every 12 hrs. 25 mg/ml
The ph level was within normal range, however, I am wondering whether
this is because I've had him on high quality food i.e., mix of Innova
EVO Ferret, 8 in 1 Ultimate Premium and Totally Ferret Turkey Venison
Lamb =96 supplemented with A/D twice a day, for the past 18 days.=20
My question is could he still possibly have residual struvite stones,
although ph level is currently normal and no stones appeared on x-
ray? Are there any other tests that could be done to determine for
certain what has caused his UTI?
The original owner contacted me and claims he's had off/on again
bloody diarreah and problem peeing for about a week a couple of times
of year. He was generally put on Amoxicillin and it would go away.=20
She said this has been happening since he was 8 mths. old. She also
claimed that he was allergic to ferret food and that is why she never
fed him that!
He has no clinical symptoms of adrenal disease.=20
Tressie
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