From:
Sukie Crandall
Date: 2008-10-21 04:01:54 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Re: Wet Cough
To: fhl <ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com>
>
> From: "Kim" <Forgewizard@cfl.rr.com>
> Date: October 20, 2008 11:22:47 PM EDT
> To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: Wet Cough
>
>
> I do worry about pneumonia and apparently with ferrets it can come
> from many sources - bacterial, viral often as a side effect from
> another immune disorder or systemic illness - none of which Bugsy or
> Crystal have had.
>
> Something I am wondering about regarding some research is that
> sometimes pneumonia can be a result of hyperadrenocorticism, Crystal
> has developed a "rat tail" with this winter's coat and is deaf ferret
> that was born a Panda (most likely neural crest disordered) so she may
> have a few inherent strikes against her immune system already.
>
> But Bugsy was the first one to begin the cough and he seems very
> healthy.
>
> With Pneumonia, according to research, the ferret exhibits: nasal
> discharge, labored breathing, typically is listless and often needs
> assistance eating, often they have a fever too.
>
> So far both Bugsy and Crystal are breathing o.k. (neither labored, nor
> shallow or quick) except of course when coughing.
>
> They have zero nasal discharge.
>
> Because I've "banished" them to the cage, they have reverted back to
> their former (pre-adoption) cage behavior- sleeping mostly, except
> when eating or going potty and the occasional pitiful let me out
> rattle the cage when they know I am sitting in the same room. So I'm
> not entirely convinced that their listlessness is as much from being
> sick as it is from them being confined to the same cage they spent the
> first part of their life in.
>
> I have a blanket over the cage top, the cage sits behind the sofa so
> the lower two thirds of three sides is open to the air.
>
> They change their sleeping preferences regularly from top level
> hammocks to bottom level snuggies, sometimes sleeping with each other,
> sometimes sleeping by themselves.
>
> They dive into their food offerings with gusto. Their deposits have
> not changed in consistency or color. The all meat diet of course made
> their deposits a bit mushy. Saturday night I allowed them each some
> mouse morsels and they swiftly devoured them. Bugsy's issue with
> swallowing larger bites has subsided. With the bones, hide and fur
> from the mice their deposits have of course firmed up.
>
> Tomorrow night Bugsy will have been on the Clavomox for one full week,
> Crystal is only one day behind him. They've both been on the
> Robitussin for three days.
>
> Tonight I allowed them some out time from the cage and they both
> bounced around like their normal selves. This increased activity did
> NOT bring on any coughing fits - which is something I'd expect with a
> pneumonia problem.
>
> They both seem to be responding to the Clavomox and especially the
> Robitussin but if not cleared up by the ten day dosage ending, (this
> Friday) or if they seem to take a turn down hill - I will definitely
> have them X-rayed.
>
> As can be surmised from my first post with the first vet's visit, I AM
> a bit miffed because I agreed to bring Bugsy back for an x-ray or
> even an endoscopy (at that point the vet was thinking possible foreign
> body aggravation) if he didn't seem to be responding after a couple
> days of treatment, and when I let the vet know that not only was Bugsy
> pretty much the same, but also Crystal was now coughing and his answer
> was to wait until Monday to bring them in and to NOT dose Crystal
> unless he saw her; I lost a lot of confidence in that vet that he had
> my ferret's best interest in mind. I doubt I'll return to him.
>
> Even if the cough was the result of a foreign body aggravation or
> enlodgement, waiting four more days could have been catastrophic!
> Making Crystal wait four days longer before starting on the antibiotic
> would have only allowed the organisms to take a stronger hold.
>
> I'm not going to fool myself into thinking they are out of the woods
> yet. I am definitely still very much concerned - it would be nice to
> know that my chosen medical caregiver was concerned too.
>
> Cheers,
> Kim
>
>
>
>
For some reason Kim's post which was approved tonight isn't yet
appearing in the list yet so I will copy it in its entirety in case
it get delayed or in case the moderation command buttons are messed
up. I'm not convinced that the Yahoogroups repairs are really
complete, yet, though the worst of the problems of the last few weeks
seem to be fixed, at least. Hopefully, this makes it through. I'll
bypass moderation to see if that works.
Kim IS seeking replies folks so DO read her message below my
response! Oh, heck. Since her post hasn't appeared yet, I'll edit
this before sending and move it to above my response to make it easier
for people to not miss it.
The fact that the ferrets seem to be responding well the antibiotics
speaks to a bacterial infection as the source of the problems.
Pneumonia symptoms vary in ferrets. It is NOT unusual for them to
have almost no symptoms at all and yet have serious pneumonia. Some
have nothing more than a little cough on and off. Don't take the list
of symptoms that they CAN have to mean that they WILL have those
symptoms.
Resources for the statement about adrenal disease and respiratory
illnesses in ferrets? I haven't run into any such work, and remember
that the type of adrenal disease ferrets almost always get is
hyperhormonal instead of cortical steroidal disease seen in other
species so different symptoms:
http://www.afip.org/consultation/vetpath/ferrets/aae.html
Articles like
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18753464
are not applicable to AAE since they refer to differences in
survival of infected human individuals with different cortisol levels,
not the syndrome ferrets get
>
Sukie (not a vet)
Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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