From:
"Jeff"
Date: 2011-11-03 14:56:45 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] IBD - Need immediate help with mysterious problem
To: "Ferret Health List" <ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com>
I would really appreciate any input as quickly as possible, even if it amounts to just a wild guess. Iâve been battling IBD with Dozer (4 years old) since June, but the immediate problem is what I need help with. He went down hill rapidly over the weekend, with the main problem being that he couldnât defecate. He would squeeze and squeeze and either nothing, or a very small amount, would come out, and what came out was small, watery pieces that were the size of rice or even smaller. He prolapsed as a result. This coincided with the last stage of slowly trying to wean him off the prednisolone he had been on, per the vetâs plan. He was never on more than 1.0 mg per day, and the final stage, when this occurred, was when he went down to 0.33 mg per day.
Exploratory surgery was done on Monday. A very small adrenal tumor on the left gland was found. Colon was found to be dilated. No other abnormalities were seen in any organs. The vet also did a procedure to tie the rectum inside so that it could not prolapse any more. A biopsy was done on the colon wall. It was not thickened, and results came back negative for any cancer. However, it was dilated. My vets and I are basically stumped as to the cause of the IBD, and as to why Dozer is in such a bad state. He will try to defecate 5 or 6 times in a 5-minute span, go back to sleep for a while, maybe an hour, then go thru the same process of squeezing so hard that he grunts and groans in pain, but either nothing, or very little, comes out. Heâs back in the hospital now, with the vet giving him pain meds and an injectable steroid to see if it will help. I donât know if weaning him off the prednisolone was the cause of this or not, but it did coincide with this beginning. Prior to that, he had been reasonably good on 1.0, then 0.67 mg daily. He did have a major bout with bacteria in July and August, and it wasnât until he was on chloramphenocol and the pred together for a month that it finally cleared up. At that point, I continued on with just the pred, with the long-term goal to try to wean him off of that. I was in the final stage of that plan when this major flare up began.
Any ideas as to what may be going on, and how to treat it, would be greatly appreciated. Even on pain med (Tramadol), Dozer is seriously suffering, and also has been licking himself raw down there trying to relieve the pain.
Jeff
In Loving Memory of Neo, Trinity, Morphy, Possum, Pip, Pop, Sabrina, Minnie Mouse, Hunny, Misty, Frodo, Baggins, and Mr. Parker
Caring for Luna, Baby Girl, Dozer, Boomer, and Zoomer
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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