From:
Chelsey Baker-Hauck
Date: 2010-05-13 18:21:43 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Re: URGENT: Extreme pain after 5 days post-op
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
Gastroparesis can impede or slow the stomach's ability to empty and
can be a very painful condition that is not relieved by ulcer
medication; it can be induced by illness, including parasitic
infection, and some medications. I don't know the veterinary options
for treating it, but in humans it requires a special diet (soft and/or
liquids) and may be relieved by certain medications, including
metoclopramide, which it sounds like you're trying. It is a
complicated condition to treat in humans; I assume even more so in an
animal.
I recently lost a ferret to gastric lymphoma, which presented as a
very slight thickening in the wall of the stomach with associated pain
and nausea. Blood tests and lymph nodes all remained normal until very
late in the disease; the only initial symptom was pain/nausea.
Treatment with prednisilone was the only thing that gave her relief,
presumably b/c it reduced the stomach inflammation. Gastritis, even
without ulcer, can be very painful. I imagine it would be difficult to
visualize this sort of subtle stomach change, either surgically or via
ultrasound, in an animal with an engorged stomach.
Seems possible that lymphoma could be causing the gastroparesis.
I think pancreatitis is uncommon in ferrets, but it also can cause
extreme pain, nausea and the other symptoms you mentioned. (My dog has
it.) I'm assuming that's been ruled out by blood work and
visualization during surgery.
Best,
Chelsey
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