From:
"Debbie"
Date: 2009-08-13 04:27:55 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] thoughts on symptoms
To: "FG-ferrethealth" <ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com>
4 yr old male albino, have had for 2 yrs. Eats a variety of good quality foods, mostly Wysong kibble. Has always had a thin coat at onset of spring and winter, then goes into a good coat. This year it didn't, so we assume adrenal disease. Melatonin implant about five weeks ago.
For about 2 months, he's been sleeping a lot more, playing very little, not eating as much and/or not eating unless I hold him and make him eat soup. Total weight loss of about 5 oz. He's now 1.6 lbs. (Has always been slight.)
Complete blood work up and vet check done about six weeks ago. Only thing abnormal was blood glucose at 96. Put on Prednisilone .15 mg. Blood glucose 126 last week.
Still sleeping all the time, not playing, not eating much, etc. For about two weeks, has had pale lips & ears and scratching way more than is normal, even for adrenal disease. Confirmed w/ vet, bloodwork shows nothing for anemia. Stools are normal.
Twice in the last two days, as he's eating soup, I've heard his stomach making digestive noises. Possible this is because he's not eating kibble on his own & only eating soup when I make him, but don't know.
For at least six months, he's had what appear to be circles under his eyes. Don't know any other way to describe it. And the eyes seem to me to look tired.
Shows no signs of pain that I'm aware of - no squinting, tearing of eyes, grinding of teeth, making whimpering noises, avoiding being handled, etc. To get him to eat more than just a teaspoon or so of food, I have to hold him in my hands and hold the bowl of soup in front of him, constantly moving the bowl to be in front of his mouth. Gets soup at about 7:45 a.m., 9:15 a.m., 7:30 p.m. and 11:00 p.m.
Vet wants to do exploratory surgery to check out pancreas and adrenal glands. I don't want to. Hate to put these babies under if I don't have to. Plus, what if the only thing he finds is a right side adrenal tumor, which he doesn't work on? Then he did surgery for nothing. Any thoughts would be helpful. Debbie
[Moderator's questions for your next post:
Which blood tests were done? Was a Chem Panel done as well as a CBC?
What was the bilirubin like? Does the ferret find it easier to swallow without
noises if held in a vertical position? What color are the feces? The full course
of digestion for a ferret is normally about 4 hours so more frequent feedings
may help. How much soup is the ferret eating for you? What are the nodes
like? What is the spleen like? has the heart been imaged? If so, only x-ray
or also ultrasound? Cardiomyopathy is certainly among the multiple things
that can cause lethargy and weight loss but the hypertrophic form often
only shows up on ultrasound. Is the age of 4 years definite or did you get
him with an estimated age of 2 years? Age guesses are often wrong so this
ferret could be older.]
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