From:
"SaS"
Date: 2010-03-29 07:29:06 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Help - sick ferret - trouble swallowing - afraid to eat.
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
Snowy has gradually lost weight over the 6months we've had him. When we rescued him, he was on the larger side and was always cage-bound. We thought initially that he was just trimming down due to activity and no longer being cage-bound. Over the last two months though he seemed to be getting too thin and frail in appearance. We've realized after watching him closely that he's been starving himself. He's very lethargic, sleeps most of time and his poop varies a lot. We've also noticed that we think he has trouble swallowing and is the reason he doesn't eat - he's afraid to. Over the last week we've been watching him around the clock, high doses of affection and love. When food is put near him, while he's not around the other ferrets, he eats. So he's hungry and wants to eat. We've also noticed that he seems to have trouble eating the FuroVite vitamins.
This past Sat he layed under my gf's chair and looked very bad and acted like he had "nothing left". Saliva was dripping out of his mouth and his mouth was open. My gf, being and EMT realized - he's choking. She jumped in ferret heimlick (her version) mode and did her thing. She got him coughing finally and his throat cleared. It was so sad; we noticed as he was in the process of dying from suffocation! She saved his life - this time.
But what is causing the trouble swallowing? He has all of his fur - even on his tail although it's a tad "dirty" looking in color. Snowy has a vet appointment today at 10am. We are hoping for some answers but fear bad news.
------------------------------------
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
ferrethealth-digest@yahoogroups.com
ferrethealth-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
ferrethealth-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/