From:
"Jeff"
Date: 2009-07-06 15:09:56 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Follow up - Sky High bilirubin levels
To: <ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com>
>From my original post last Wednesday:
We had to rush Possum to the vet today. In less than 24 hours he went from being seemingly 'normal' in every way to being in extreme distress. His poops were nearly perfect right up until he started to refuse to eat or drink. His urine was also normal until we got him to the vet, at which point his urine was orange in color. The vet did bloodwork right away, and although I don't have all of the results, he told me over the phone that the major concern is a 'sky high' bilirubin level of 18.
******************
Possum (somewhere around age 3 or 4) is home and doing well. Hopefully he'll continue to do well, but I feel unsure about this. The two main prognoses for his serious illness last week were some kind of liver problem or something with his gall bladder. A barium x-ray showed no blockages in the digestive tract, and in fact he is now back to eating and pooping regularly and the poops themselves are good. The vet bill added up quickly, and since he improved a lot in the 2 days that he was there, we chose to forego the extra $350 that it would have cost for an ultrasound to try to more definitively determine if it was the liver or gall bladder that was the source of the problem. My vet says that gall stones are extremely rare in ferrets, yet the speed with which the whole thing came on has me leaning in that direction. Possum was very malnourished for most of his life before we got him a couple of months ago, which leads me to further believe it may be the gall bladder/g
all stones.
He's on amoxicillin and flagyll for the next 10 days, as well as pepcid to keep his stomach settled. He continues to get his low dose of Prednisolone for suspected insulinoma (BG level 57, tested two different times). He seems pretty much back to normal now, but maybe a little more lethargic, but not to a degree where we are worried. We are keeping a close eye on him in hopes that there is no relapse.
Jeff
In Memory of Neo and Mr. Parker
Caring for Trinny, Morphy, Baby Girl, Luna, Dozer, and Possum
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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