From:
Mike
Date: 2010-11-19 01:39:39 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Question about an odd problem in my ferret
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com, F M L <ferret-L@listserv.ferretmailinglist.org>
Last night our ferret Mufassa was doing something I've never heard of or se=
en in a ferret.=A0 It has to be something medical going on but my vet doesn=
't know what it is and neither do I.=A0 Mufassa has a bit of a history so I=
will describe the history then I'll try and describe the symptoms.
=A0
He is a 7 year old DEW.=A0 He spent his first 3 years at the breeder who tr=
eated him very badly.=A0 Mufassa is deaf but he has nose like an eagle.=A0 =
He was a terrible bitter which is why he ended up in our family (we've had =
success rehabbing bad biters before).=A0 It took nearly 7 months to get pas=
t the biting and now he is the sweetest ferret you could ever know.
=A0
He was neutered after he was purchased from the breeder but not descended.=
=A0 He developed adrenal disease and had his left adrenal gland removed.=A0=
The adrenal disease came back within a couple months.=A0 We had a deslorin=
implant put in back in February.=A0 He developed a bad tooth, lost 9 ounce=
s.=A0 We started to feed him pureed chicken and he had=A0a dental and remov=
al of one molar and a couple incisors.=A0 The deslorin implants effectivene=
ss seemed to decrease and his hair started to thin.=A0 Since his dental he =
does eat kibble but he doesn't seem to eat enough to keep his weight up.=A0=
=A0=A0 We've been feeding him pureed chicken (15 mls with 25 mls water, now=
I've been told that this is too much but he eats it all and looks for more=
and will go and eat kibble right after the chicken).=A0 He gets the chicke=
n 3 times a day.=A0 We went to 2 times a day but he lost 2 ounces in three =
days so we went back to 3 times a day.=A0 His fur on his neck and back star=
ted to
turn orange (more signs of the adrenal disease coming back).=A0 We also ha=
d two more who needed an implant.=A0 They cost around $190 each so we've be=
en saving for them.=A0 The last couple weeks the orange was getting more pr=
onoucned and he started to get a little more aggressive.
=A0
Now to what he did last night.=A0 He was sitting in his cage and he tried t=
o raise up (prairie dog like but fell over to his left and back.=A0 He did =
this 4 times in a row.=A0 I took him out of his cage and put him on the flo=
or to see him walk.=A0 He was not lethargic but we walking his normal speed=
but would do the following fall to his side, fall forward, try and prairie=
dog and fall over backwards.=A0 His movements were a bit jerky.=A0 I thoug=
ht maybe insulinoma and low glucose.=A0 I made him some chicken and sit him=
on the counter.=A0 He was kind of sitting on his behind and when he tried =
to put his head down to eat he would jerk it back up and almost roll over b=
ackwards or fall over to his side.=A0 He did finish his food.=A0 He still c=
ontinued to act this way, I was very concerned and bewildered at this.=A0 I=
was becoming very scared and concerned so I gave him 0.5 ml of 1mg/1ml pre=
dnislone.=A0 A few minutes later he did have some dry=A0heaves and pawed at=
his
mouth once.=A0=A0I gave him a big dose of Nutracal and=A015 min later I ga=
ve him another 0.5 mls of prednisolone.=A0=A0 He did improve but you could =
see in his eyes that he wasn't feeling good.=A0 He slept for a couple hours=
and I fed him chicken again.=A0 Through the night he got the chicken every=
2 - 3 hours.=A0 In the morning he got one dose of pred and was still getti=
ng the chicken.=A0 Now he looked better in the way he acted and in his eyes=
.=A0 I continued with the chicken every 2 - 3 hours.=A0 I could not take hi=
m to the vet until 2 in the afternoon and that morning our vet called to te=
ll me the deslorin implants were in.=A0 Also he didn't have his head tilted=
or anything like that he would sniff the air a lot but he has a super nose=
and is deaf and he sniffs a lot anyway, it was just accentuated because of=
his jerkiness.=A0 I hope this makes some sense its kind of tough to descri=
be.
=A0
Our vet examined Mufassa.=A0 Heart and Lungs sounded good, ears okay, teeth=
good, physical assessment good.=A0 7 year old ferret still with good muscl=
e tone temperature normal.=A0 Mufassa was more active than I'd seen him in =
a year.=A0 He appeared very curious, alert, and relaxed.=A0=A0 The old impl=
ant was right next to the skin and you could almost grab it an pull it out.=
=A0 We lanced it and slipped the old one out.=A0 His blood glucose level wa=
s 191.=A0 Too high for it to be insulinoma but too low to be diabetes as di=
abetic ferret glucose levers are usually higher.
=A0
We don't know what it was.=A0 Maybe his adrenal disease had returned with a=
vengeance and there was some type of hormone spike or something???
=A0
Our plan is to watch him closely and to wean off the prednisolone.=A0 We di=
d implant a new Deslorin Implant so if it is the adrenal disease that cause=
d it then the implant should help.
=A0
Has anyone seen anything like this?=A0 He looked really really bad last nig=
ht.=A0 I thought we were going to end up losing him.=A0=A0
=A0
Tonight he looks perfectly normal, like last night didn't happen.
=A0
Thank you
=A0
Mike
=20=20=20=20=20
[If my interpretation of what you write is accurate then
we've seen something similar with a clot thrown to the
brain due to cardiomyopathy. Such thromboses can be
alternatively caused by kidney disease, or by lymphoma.
-- Moderator (SDC)]
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