From:
"mb_kaplan"
Date: 2008-12-16 18:24:58 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] New to the FHL
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
Hi all,
My name is Melissa. I live in Austin, TX and my husband and I
currently have 4 ferrets. We lost one last week due to very suspicious
circumstances, which is why I looked for this group.
The basics: Daisy was 3, and came to us from a shelter 1.5 years ago.
On Monday evening after work, I found her very lethargic and
dehydrated. We gave her sub-Q fluids and force-fed duck soup
throughout the night. Tuesday morning, she went to the vet. Glucose
was totally normal, but she was so dehydrated that they couldn't get
enough blood to do a full workup. They gave her IV fluids and duck
soup throughout the day. Suspecting a bacterial infection, they also
put her on IV antibiotics.
That night we fed her duck soup every 3 hours, but no sub-Q fluids, on
doc's orders. She was harder and harder to feed each time and grew
more listless.
Wednesday morning, I took her back to the vet. By noon, they were
reporting fever spiking to 110 F, blood coming from her rectum, and no
apparent response to the antibiotics. I made the decision to put her
down at 1:00.
They did a complete necropsy and found that all of her organs had
either shut down or were going to. Her WBC count was low. They still
suspect bacterial infection, but don't know what kind of bacteria.
This was the first case like this my vet had ever seen.
I'm getting copies of all the records -- including histopathology
report -- this week and will be able to answer questions then.
I'm terrified for my other 4 ferrets, who seem to be fine at this
point. Because the vet doesn't know what caused Daisy's illness, they
can't tell me whether my others are at risk, what the first symptoms
will be, or how long the incubation period is. (In other words, will I
ever be able to relax again?) They're not even 100% sure whether it's
bacteria or a virus. (The lab didn't test the blood, for some reason,
and the organ samples had been stored in formaldehyde.)
Anybody heard of anything like this? Like I said, I'll have the full
report by this weekend and would be happy to answer diagnostic questions.
------------------------------------
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