From:
"jen"
Date: 2011-09-11 18:00:09 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Re: HELP! Furosemide for early cardiomyopthy? Aspiration w/ freeze-dried food?
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
Many Thanks for all the responses. I do have an update, which I'll post is a separate thread as a "potential problem" because I am skeptical of the diagnosis of heart disease at this point in time. I believe the problem may be bronchial irritation resulting from exclusive feeding of freeze-dried raw while I was away for over a week. The formula fed has been changing, so I fed a combination of various products. One of these products is very dry and dense, but it is preferred over the newer formula, which has varied a lot. I have noticed competitive feeding habits for the older, more dense formula. The food is not well chewed when the kids are fighting over it. My noticed boy was bolting down the favored food (not chewing the chunks well), and the hacking began bout 3o minutes after eating. The hacking continues for about 3-4 hours. This suggests that the dry chunk were producing the strong hairball-lke cough. The hazing in the lung is likely the result of irritation from coughing coupled with aspiration/reflux.
I have been feeding these products dry for over 6.5 years when I travel. never had a problem until the formula changed very recently, and the denser food become a strong source of contention among the ferrets. (fighting ove he good stuff and bolting down the food)
I'm continuing he Clavamox. All dry food has been discontinued at this point in time. My boy is bouncing this morning - no cough since last night, which started about a half hour after eating the dry, dense food.
Vigorous exercise does not result in any cough whatsoever. Breathing does not increase/become labored, etc. There is NO weakness, NO warm nose, etc. There never was - there was only a severe, dry honking cough. This is what made me suspect hairballs, but the barium showed nothing and the poops are awesome.
I will update this thread if my assumption turns out to be incorrect and/or if my ferret does not ontinue to impro rapidly. But if I post nothing more,you'll know that I stand firm on my assessment as described above. This info. may be useful to others, so I added info to the Subject line for database searches.
Again, Many Thanks for all the help.
-jennifer
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