From:
Caitlyn Martin
Date: 2010-07-01 17:33:59 UTC
Subject: Re: [ferrethealth] Re: Neurological problem or ????
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
First, thanks to everyone who responded. I want to clarify a few
things as there seems to be some conclusion as to what I wrote.
Zephyr is completely asymptomatic again and has been for the last two
days. The vet I trust is three hours away and expensive. Zephyr is
going there soon but I am not treating this as an emergency while
nothing appears to be wrong. If symptoms recur then, of course, it
becomes an emergency.
Zephyr's blood glucose is in the normal range. It is not high.
Zephyr has no hind end weakness. I have never seen her display any at
all. My housemate thought it was hind end weakness that she saw but
after seeing Zephyr's last spell (for lack of a better word) she says
what she saw two months ago was exactly the same. If so, hind end
weakness is not a symptom.
Zephyr simply came to a stop and fell over to her left with no warning
in the middle of the living room. She was shaking and had what
appeared to be a mild, brief seizure. Then she was just lying there
and I was worried so I picked her up. She was breathing hard and
seemed to be in distress. The time elapsed from when she fell over to
when she calmed down was a couple of minutes at most.
When I put her down she was listing to the left, her left foreleg was
weak, and she fell over occasionally. I offered her a treat which she
eagerly accepted. She quickly adjusted and started walking and
running more, balancing against walls and objects to her left and
through tunnels. The symptoms quickly disappeared. It took her all
of 15 minutes or so to get back to normal.
There have been no symptoms ever since. No falling, no listing, no
weakness, and no signs of distress at all.
I'm really afraid I am going to take a day off, spend hundreds of
dollars, and get the same answer I got six months ago: nothing
unusual found. Yes, I will ask for more diagnostic work. The
suggestions regarding her heart are ones I will pass on.
The reason I asked if this was a neurological issue was because
Zephyr, when running around after the incident and listing to the
left, looked just like Oscar, a ferret we sat for, who had
neurological problems from birth. Oscar was active, playful and
affectionate but he always listed to the left and sometimes fell. The
way he kept going is exactly the way Zephyr did. I wasn't suggesting
that any diagnostic work indicated a neurological problem. That is
just what it looked like based on my admittedly limited experience.
The lymphoma suggestion came without an examination, just on the
phone, and it wasn't from the vet I trust most. The idea was that
lymphoma can cause what appear to be neurological symptoms. We
actually saw that with Ker Avon towards the end of his life. After
losing seven ferrets to lymphoma, including six in less than two
years, it remains one of the first things I think of in old ferrets.
I do not want to suggest that any diagnostic work suggests lymphoma.
It was an educated guess at most and is only one possibility.
At this point I have no answers. Several of you have given me ideas
that I can raise as questions for Zephyr's vet. Finances are very
difficult right now so we need to sort a few things out before we take
her unless it is a true emergency. No matter what she will go to the
vet sooner rather than later.
Thanks again for all the information and suggestions shared so far.
Regards,
Caity and the terrific trio
Zephyr, Ella and Chin Soon
[Well, seizures ARE from a neurological cause or
something affecting the CNS (Central Nervous System).
Could that one limb have a weakness like arthritis which
makes it more likely to be the one that folds? In that
case it's a misdirection and the problem is the seizures.
Seizures can be from blood sugar being off, as you
know, and sometimes in early insulinoma the bouts
can be sporadic with fine PG between.
Does she have a behavioral issue, very infrequent
meals, which can add to that problem? We have one
who likes to eat only 2 or 3 times a day so when he
got insulinoma at age 7 he'd be fine with short fasts,
but he was imposing much longer fasts upon himself
and that is when the drops were happening.
Thrown clots can at times go to the brain, and if there
are thrown clots then if that one leg is simply weaker
it would explain why it was the involved one, or maybe
your friend's recollection is off after the fact since it
has been a while.
-- Moderator (SDC)]
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