From:
Diane at South Shore Ferret Care
Date: 2009-06-02 20:33:15 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] ferret with possible spinal injury - yep we had one and it was OK
To: tressiedu@hotmail.com
Hi there, saw your post, we had two similiar to what you described.
My vet was unsure whether it was an injury or a spinal tumor, either way she said she would have used the same protocol.
Fairly high level of prednisone for 5 days (1.0 ml) our gal was 1.5 lbs
(since prednisone is a steriod it worked for both possibilities).
We also disolved arnica montana pearls into water and ferretone and gave it multiple times a day.
We slathered her with animax to help with skin ulceration and any urine burns. I used a large non stick pad (like for large cuts) with a self adhering ace bandage (only once around) cut a hole for the tail and put a cotton ball near the void area. I used cloth baby diapers every where, changed her when she needed it and used aveno oatmeal baby bath to just splash to clean, a baby wipe to wipe off, as well as re-slather with animax.
(The key to her not freaking out when bathing was to not have the water running. I used a rectangle take out container, let her soak a few minutes and gently moved the legs)
With a couple of days with one level cage and sleepy sacks to crawl in she felt a bit better. Clean, fed and rested.
After 5 days we began the weaning off the prednisone.(1mg/ml) From twice a day of 0.75 to 0.50 to 0.25 to once a day over a ten day period.
We of course watched for changes and improvements, she turned out ok. Her name was Richochet and she wanted to get back to her namesake I guess. She was about 2 years old.
Another ferret had a similiar situation, we followed the same protocol and supportive care treatment as we weaned off the prednisione the condition deteriorated and it was a spinal tumor. As the condition deteriorated we stepped back up the prednsione, added in milk thistle, and kept up the arnica montana. We did feel that this added longevity and quality to their life.
He was best buddies with Oreo (my boy with three legs), they were a sight pulling themselves on their bellies in a tube which we lined with a strip of flannel (thanks Risa).
Hope this helps a bit.
Diane Wall - South Shore Ferret Care
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