From:
"Amy Seyler"
Date: 2009-02-17 13:34:23 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Megaesophagus - our story
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
I had promised Sukie ages ago I'd post this, but since we moved last
year and have been getting settled I just haven't done it. It also
opens up some relatively fresh scars which I've been just as willing
not to face, but as I found when I was searching for info on this
subject there was not nearly as much as on other ferret diseases. And
since it's been brought up again I thought now was a good time.
Our ferret Fiona started with some GI gurgling back in summer 2007.
Since I already have another IBD ferret the vet and I thought it
might be that, and started to treat accordingly. We did
metronidazole, Pepto, pred, Immuran, Forti Flora -- you name it, we
tried it. Fiona was still eating kibble but her stomach would gurgle
very loudly after eating.
Around October 2007, I noticed that she would upchuck (not really
vomit, more like spit up) food that she had just eaten. It was as if
the food got part of the way down and came back up. That coupled with
the loud gurgling made me suspect megaesophagus. I tried to do some
research on it online but discovered that other than Miami Ferret
there wasn't much in the way of ways to treat or handle MegaE, and
the prognosis was not good. In 18 years of owning ferrets this was my
first case of MegaE. When my vet and I confirmed my suspicion she
gave Fiona about 3 months to live.
Once I knew what we were dealing with, I made it my mission to keep
Fiona with us as long as she was not suffering. She was still playing
and happy, she just couldn't eat well. I am lucky enough to work at
home, so I fed her two cubes of duck soup 3 times a day, about 8
hours apart. She actually put on quite a bit of weight so I was happy
since I knew the food was going down. Basically, because of the
progression of her disease, I was able to feed her by having her
stand on her back legs with her front feet on my leg and keeping the
dish right at about neck level. That way the food could be pulled
down by gravity. At times, she would get "backed up," and I'd have to
gently massage her belly for the trapped soup to get down -- I always
knew by the tell-tale gurgling that it had passed. The feeding
process had to be slower than she liked, so the food had time to get
down to her stomach. We'd let her eat four or five licks and then
pause, four or five licks and then pause, etc.
Once she finished her soup, I had to hold her upright for a few
minutes just to make sure everything got down okay. She did so very
well on this regimen that month 3 passed and she was still cranking
along. I would periodically have an Xray done to see how the disease
was progressing. Because she was feeding so well we didn't have her
on any meds, which was fine with me because that would be one more
thing to get down her.
What ended up killing her was not the megaesophagus...she ended up
with lung cancer and we euthanized her last March. I don't know how
much longer she would have lasted but other than the cancer she was
doing fine 5 months after diagnosis.
Hopefully this helps someone. I figure any additional information on
this illness would be welcomed.
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