From:
"rhnpat"
Date: 2010-01-13 08:38:19 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] ferret has a bad cough
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
I am hoping that maybe someone might be able to give me some advice on my ferret. I have taken my ferret to the vet 3 times in the past month and a half. He has a horrible cough. The cough varies, sometimes he coughs once a day and others 6 times a day. Sometimes it sounds extremely horrible and other times not too bad. He has watery eyes and it seems like he is pretty itchy but he is not losing any hair and he sneezes sometimes. I can hear the congestion when he coughs (its almost like a hissing sound and then sometimes it sounds like he is hacking something up) and its a very wheezy cough. When he is coughing I pick him up and can feel the fluid in his lungs. He seems like his appetite has decreased some and he seems to be a little more tired than usual but he still plays (just doesnt seem as crazy and hyper). The 3rd time I took him to the vet he actually gained some weight since the last time, almost a whole pound (he now weighs 2.18 lbs), so that was good being that it h
ad only been 2 1/2 weeks since his last visit. The vet seems to think that he must have been feeling better. His stools are fine and he drinks his water. I have noticed that when he lays on his back he makes a little noise like he is wheezing a little and i can hear the congestion. Also sometimes in his sleep he whines or wheezes. He has not been checked for parasites. I feed him Zupreem and use Marshall Ferret Litter. He gets Marshall Ferret Lax. He is not on heartworm preventative but I am planning to start him on it next time I take him to the vet. I am starting to clean his hammock more often with a baby detergent. I do not use any bedding in his cage. I clean his litter box about 1-2 times a week but I am now working on doing it more often.
Well when I took him to the vet the 1st time, she said his lungs were congested gave him amoxi drops for 10 days..didnt work. Took him back and he was given a shot of baytril and cefa drops for about 14 days.. didnt work. Took him back and he was given an allergy shot..didnt help. So now the vet wants to do a chest xray to check the heart. But his heart sounds fine.. no murmur or anything. The vet didnt feel like it was a heart problem because he is not a marshall ferret and he is 2 1/2 years old. He is a rainbow exotics ferret though and I dont know how much better those are than marshalls. But she feels like we need to do a chest xray now that the allergy shot did not help even though there is no murmur. She did mention before she gave him the allergy shot that it could be a fungal infection and if it was it could make him a lot worse by giving him the allergy shot. He seemed to do better a couple of days after getting the allergy shot but the cough was still there. It has
been 4 days since he got the allergy shot and I am kind of thinking the cough is now worse than before.
I think it could possibly be a fungal infection even though the vet explained to me that they are rare in ferrets. Do you know how you treat a fungal infection? Any suggestions what I should do? Should I get the chest xray or tell the vet to try something else? Im just really getting frustrated because I am out of a job right now and now my ferret is having this bad bad cough and I am so worried about him I want to help him. I have taken him to the vet 3 times and it has cost me quite a bit already. I just want an answer so I can hurry up and get him some help and quit wasting my money on things that are not even helping. I just know the xray is going to be expensive and I dont really have the money but i will make sacrifices if i absolutely need to. Also, say if he was to have a heart problem, what is the next step? I definitely do not have the money for surgery... would the vet just put him on some medicine to help reduce the fluid? I just want someones opinion on what they
think it could be and how should I go about this? I am a first time ferret owner so I have never experienced anything like this before and I am so stressed out. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!
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