From:
silverfert
Date: 2011-03-04 07:17:22 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Stuffy, congested nose
To: <ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com>
Hello,
My ferret has been sneezing a bit off and on but what really has me concerned is whenever she wakes she sounds like her nose is partially stopped up and she swallows several times and "chews" for a few seconds. She usually does this before eating too. The chewing is not teeth grinding. At times she has clear fluid drops that "fly" out of her nose whether she's awake or asleep. She sounds better after she's been awake for a few minutes. She's only eating soup (ground kibble, a small amount of turkey baby food for flavor and texture, and water) now and will not drink water by itself. She starts to drink from her water bottle but stops and shakes her head and does the same thing at a bowl or saucer. I haven't had any luck getting her to drink from my palm or different brands of bottled water. She can still smell so I don't think that has much to do with it. Today she started shaking her head before she starts to eat her soup.
I took her to the vet yesterday. Blood work was normal and the radiograph showed one lung was a bit opaque. I was told she is too fat and that's causing the problem. That the appearance of the lung was caused by fat and since she wasn't showing any signs of congestion in the office that nothing was wrong and nothing could be done. I asked about a sinus infection and was told if she had one there would be yellow or green discharge from her nose, that it wouldn't be clear. I was told if it were an infection her face and nose would be badly swollen.
I guess the drier air could be causing this or maybe an allergy. I'm going to give a small dose of Benadryl tomorrow and see if it helps. Though I suppose it might take a couple days to know if it's going to help or not. Does anyone know if a bacterial sinus infection would or would not cause an elevated white count? Also, if nasal discharge or droplets have to be green or yellow and not clear to indicate a sinus infection?
Thanks in advance for any advice or info.
[Those replying are asked to remember that
while ferrets do get sinus infections, things
stuck up their noses, infected tooth roots,
influenza and a range of other things they
don't get colds. The various viruses that
produce the rare types of colds can be
looked up in conjunction with ferret in PubMed:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez
in case anything has changed in that regard
and be sure to read posts from ferret veterinary
pathology expert, Dr. Bruce Williams like these:
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/YG10945
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/YG4054
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/YG4053
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/YG2137
If this ferret is obese it is wise to recall that
in any species there are associated discomforts
and health risks.
-- moderator]
]
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