From:
"possum1213"
Date: 2008-10-18 11:39:46 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Urinary Blockage
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
I just experienced my first TOTAL urinary blockage. Madison is a
little ferret that I recently picked up from our local animal
shelter. Early on Thursday morning, while feeding and medicating, I
saw that he wasn't able to urinate. I immediately took him in to the
vet at 5:30 a.m.(my vet clinic is 24/7). The on-call vet was called
in and she was able to sedate him so that he relaxed enough for her
to express the bladder. My primary ferret vet came in during regular
hours and told me he wanted to give a large Lupron injection but his
order had not arrived. I got on the phone and called my wonderful
ferret specialist vet (and friend) in Gainesville, FL and she
immediately sent us a 2mg dose overnight. Yesterday, Madison got his
injection. My vet attempted to insert a "Slippery Sam" catheter into
Madison but said he couldn't get the tube to make one of the turns.
So, that means he has to continue to be expressed. He came home last
night. He is on Metacam (for pain) and Clavamox (for infection).
I am having to express his bladder every 4-5 hours around the clock
until the Lupron hopefully kicks in. My vet said it will probably
take at least 48 hours before he can even begin to go on his own. I
had no idea how HARD it is to express the bladder with such a large
blockage. I have assisted with urinating before and it wasn't so
bad. This is not fun at all. You really have to use a lot more
pressure than you even think they could stand. Last night, I kinda
freaked out because I was afraid to put as much pressure as needed,
so ended up going to my vet clinic at 11:00 and the vet tech (who was
also there during the initial emergency) did it for me. At 4:00
a.m., I had much more success. (I believe the thought of getting in
the car and going to the clinic again gave me more courage LOL)
Madison is eating and drinking well, but continues to attempt to
urinate every few minutes. I'm hoping the Metcam will help him calm
down a little bit until this resolves.
At this point, because of very evident malnutrition when I got him
(he weighed 1 1/4 lbs.), surgery may, or may not, be in his future.
We'll just see how he does over the next few days.
And to state the obvious, my vet and the vet tech both trained me on
the proper procedure for expressing the bladder.
Katharine
Florida
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