Message Number: FHL10809 | New FHL Archives Search
From: Jack
Date: 2010-01-22 16:29:04 UTC
Subject: Re: [ferrethealth] Ferret aspirated prednisolone
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com

Thank for your response and for everyone else who read and responded here and off-list.

To recap and update:

Caesar gets 2.5 ml of Pred every other day along with Lukeran to help him keep the progress of his lymphoma at bay. Last night while giving him his Pred he gagged, then aspirated some of the Pred. He went into respiratory arrest and lost consciousness immediately. I tried upside down back slapping and centrifugal spinning to try and expel what he inhaled but I wasn't getting anywhere, and he was limp and blue. I finally did mouth to mouth resuscitation, starting with suction first. The suction left me with a strong taste of Pred in my mouth, so I knew I was making progress. I proceeded with rescue breathing combined with Heimlich-like chest compressions and he stiffened up and started moving air. Before too long he was breathing normally again but seemed pretty out of it.

This morning he was having some trouble breathing. His color was OK but he was gasping for air. I took him to his vet first thing. He examined Caesar and did radiographs. The good news is that the lungs look clear and healthy. He's there now on low flow O2 so that he doesn't have to work as hard to stay oxygenated. He likely has some upper respiratory irritation and swelling from the Pred but we think that he will recover just fine. The radiographs revealed an enlarged heart as well but that is probably age related, and it's good that we caught it now so we can treat that along with all of his other issues.

The moral of this story is that I need to take my time when giving meds. I was tired, impatient and in a hurry last night, and that might have been what caused this to happen. It didn't take much Pred to nearly kill Caesar, and though I'm hopeful that he will recover from this, it was completely preventable. So, please take my advice and try not to let the routine of meds get to be too routine. Don't let this happen to you. And, if you have a medical emergency, do what makes sense and don't give up. I almost stopped last night - it seemed like he was dead. He was blue, limp, and his mouth was open and his tongue was slack and hanging out. I've seen a lot of dead ferrets and he looked dead to me. But I remembered my CPR training and one of the most important things that's taught is DON'T STOP until the victim begins breathing on their own (or until help arrives). This may very well be the reason that Caesar is alive this morning. Please keep him in your prayers.

Jack


[Response from someone else who had the same
experience removed since it was private so the author's
permission sent directly to us moderators would be required
to avoid violating the person's copyright.
--Moderator]


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