From:
Soren Tabnitz
Date: 2011-07-27 01:26:38 UTC
Subject: Re: [ferrethealth] Re: Excessive bacteria in digestive tract
To: "ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com" <ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com>
Jeff--
As a vet tech, I'm confused and a little worried by this discussion. The normal GI tract should be FULL of bacteria and giving antibiotics will kill off good flora as well as bad. I worry that just because you see improvement when you give amoxi, that doesn't necessarily mean you are treating what you think are treating.
I can't really think of a bad GI organism that amoxi will knock down on its own. Amoxi also doesn't have the ancillary anti-inflammatory effects of say, flagyl or doxycycline so it's not really useful for IBD--in my experience.
Has your vet done a smear to look for clostridia? This bug is normally resident in modest numbers but can cause diarrhea and GI distress with overgrowth.
I'd think about treating for IBD/Helicobacter/ulcer. Incidentally, speaking to a compounding pharmacist the other day I learned that metronidazole *benzoate* is MUCH more palatable than the plain form. His pharmacy gets it from Europe to use in pediatric/veterinary compounding and he says it is very well tolerated.
My own ferrets did clarithromycin (Biaxin) for Helicobacter and while it was very expensive the ease with which they took it made it totally worth the cost.
Nutraceuticals which are useful include colostrum, Sonne's #7 (clay is a great adsorbent for toxins), and GI flora supplements. Bear in mind that most "acidophilus" supplements were created for the human GI tract and there are a few differences between the human and animal gut. A good one specially made for pets is called Pet-Dophilus by Jarrow. FOS help gut flora flourish too.
Skyla
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