From:
"cherylnj81"
Date: 2009-02-23 00:39:05 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Can someone PLEASE help with diagnosing Linus
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
He has been to three vets now, and none have solved the problem. He
keeps eating and then heaving and gagging for about at least an hour,
and then makes these funny noises like he is choking or has asthma or
something. You can feel his throat contracting as the vomit is trying
to make itself up. He doesn't usually vomit during these episodes,
but when he does it is foamy and has pieces of kibble and some kind of
mucousy, phlegm-ish looking clear stuff. His neck wrinkles all up and
he sticks his head out and does this over and over, almost like spasms
or seizure but its not.
I have tried doing what I would need to do for mega-esophagus, feeding
him vertically and massaging his neck downward to his stomach, and it
doesn't help (but it seems to soothe him a little). Two ferret
knowledgeable vets have told me megaesophagus is extremely rare in a
ferret anyway, and it is more likely esophagitis.
He has had two x-rays showing no tumors, an ultrasound showing the
lung abscess, and so many medications. We can't do a barium x-ray
because we don't think he could hold the barium down. The only thing
I can personally think of is that we upped his dose of Prednisolone
like 18 hours before the first incident began. I was thinking of
going to injectable steroid. His blood work showed high liver values,
and his ultrasound showed multiple nodules on the pancreas. Also the
one vet thought his liver looked big in the x-ray.
He was doing OK on the watery baby food, still making sounds but no
gagging episodes. Then I presume he feels better so goes for the
kibble again....and that's when he will be trying to throw up for the
next hour+.
What do I do? He is perfectly okay otherwise, he is starving, his
poops are fair, considering the stress he has been under. He loves
cuddles still. I won't PTS at this point. I am trying to get him in
for an endoscope tomorrow. Until then, can anyone offer anything of
what it might be? I think I am going to try to tape record these
sounds. They sound really weird and disconcerting. Oh and also, the
vet who did the x-ray this evening said he did not see much gas at
all, and was surprised, so these sounds are NOT coming from gas.
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