|
|
|
Starting Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 10/16/2008 6:25:08 PM
Posts: 4,
Visits: 13
|
|
ill start by saying ive done a fair amount of research on the most common ferret illnesses and i havent been able to find anything that solidly matches the symptoms my ferret has developed over time. i dont have the money to have a lot of testing done at a vet, so im hoping to get some information so i know what to tell the vet when i do go so they have something to work with and i feel like i am more able to understand what they tell me.
my ferret is male, he is roughly 4 years old, i acquired him through a family friend who found him in his laundry basket asleep at a laundromat. he tried to find the owner for 2 weeks but had no luck. he immediately brought him to me when he found him as he knew i had raised a ferret before and that i would be willing to care for it until the owner was found (if found). when i received the ferret he was VERY tiny (a very young kit, possibly a runt, he is still very small for a ferret, especially a male, he is still smaller than the female i had even at ~4 years of age). he had been neutered but i do not think he was descented. i personally do not smell the musk of a ferret and im not sure if males smell less than females or not, as the ferret i had raised before was a female and people said she smelled horridly strong (she was in fact descented). those same people say this male ferret doesn't smell nearly as strong as the one i had before, *shrug*. moving on... i cared for him night and day, as i was not currently working and was between semesters at university. he was always very active, we would play together and he would sleep in the bed with me at night curled up next to my head. he was always in good health until about 2 years of age he started to get ECE (greenies) off and on, he hasnt had any greenies in about a year now, possibly he grew out of it? however he would get diarrhea very often over the course of the past year. several months ago he started to "wobble" and occasionally fall over while walking across my slick hardwood floor. he would do this only after waking up from a nap, i figured he was just not fully alert from being asleep and that the slick floor made it hard to walk straight. over time he began to move slower, lose interest in playing all together and would wobble and fall over all the time, not just after waking up. as that progressed he began to have difficulty getting back up after falling over and would sometimes just lay there as if he didnt want to try and get up. i would hold him and talk to him and he would be very attentive to me, kissing me and nosing me, he seemed very happy, just somewhat handicapped. he started to go to the bathroom VERY often, 2 times an hour on average, when i wake up in the morning there would usually be about 10 turds on his poo-pad. some days it was runny, some days it was solid. on days it was solid he went less and he walked better and moved faster and was more alert. over time he got worse off and now he has lost virtually all his muscle mass, he is just skin and bones, he eats a lot, but he poops a lot, so i guess he isnt absorbing as much as he should. he also drinks A LOT. he will drink for 5min at a time and goes through an entire bottle in 2 days (12oz i guess). just the past week he has started to deficate wherever he is at the time he goes, this includes the area in which he eats and drinks. he often stumbled into it as he walks away from it, or falls into it as he is going because he cant stand up long enough to finish. on a few ocassions he has just laid on the floor spread out and went like that. i am quick to clean him off with warm water and then a hair dryer and towel to get him dried off as quickly and gently as possible, but lately it has been a futile task keeping my floor and him clean, as he goes so often. i wake up with pee and poop all over my floor and he will have dried poop on his rear end and foot pads. today i noticed his anus was a sticking out a little and was very red, i also noticed his NOSE was very dark red, it is usually a pale liver with speckled black and brown, very beautiful, but today it is beat red you can barely see the speckling it is so red. i tried searching for "red nose" but came up with nothing, this has to be a sign of something... though he did climb up on something for the first time in almost 4 months yesterday, it suprised me, not only did he try, he did so successfully the first try, i was amazed at his success and afterwards he seemed to be worn out, he laid on the floor next to the stack of books he had climbed and just looked at me. he is still very affectionate to me, and comes to me when i call his name and gives me kisses, but he doesnt want to be in the bed anymore, as he cant get down by himself anymore, he might not want to be up there because he knows he will need to get down and i wont be there to help him down. i dont know.... he sleeps all the time, if he isnt sleeping he is pooping or drinking or eating, he sleeps at least 22 hours a day, alternating between his two houses depending on how cool or hot it is in my room. oh, one other thing, his feces have been like a creamy peanut butter consistency or standard diarrhea but never a true solid for the past 2 months. i know this is rather long and drawn out, but im trying to be as thorough as i possibly can. so to sum it up i have a male ferret, approximately 4 years of age who can barely walk on good says and crawls on bad days, has frequent bowel movements which are never solid, has a red, slightly puffy anus, an abnormal beat-red nose, sleeps ALL the time, very slow reactions, attentive to my presence and voice, and eats and drinks normally if not more than normal. my female ferret lived for 7 years and died of a pneumonia-like illness that took her very fast. she was very lively and active up to the last few days of her life, so this is something i never expected to see in a ferret that is only 4 years old! i am very worried and i feel like im being a horrible owner by not taking him to the vet when i first started to suspect something, but he just acts happy when i am around so i know he isnt suffering too much and i kept hoping he would get better as he has good days and bad days, but this past week or two he has been going down hill. before then he was fairly consistent in his behavior, he just slept a lot and walked funny, but he always made it to his pad to poop and he was always happy to see me so why would i think anything was really wrong with him? but now i dont know, i think there were obvious signs i didnt pick up on that i should have and now i feel horrible. i wish i had the money to take him to the vet but im not even sure if there is a vet near me that has any knowledge of ferrets. anyhow, if anyone can offer some information or recommendations of what to do, please respond, mainly i just wanted to let other ferret lovers out there know what we are going through. thanks.
|
|
|
|
|
New Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 4/27/2008 5:10:12 PM
Posts: 84,
Visits: 337
|
|
| For starters make a vet appointment. There are several illnesses that share the same symptoms. The hind leg weakness there are two diseases that are really bad is ADV and lymphosarcoma. Both are deadly. The problem is other illnesses can cause a ferret to also have the hind leg weakness. Tell your vet everything it can be as simple as a hair ball blockage to as devestating as ADV or lymphosarcoma. The prolasp rectum is being caused by the excessive poop. Try and make payment arrangement with the vet if possible. You will have to find a vet that specializes in ferrets or exotics. Good luck and keep us posted 
Proud Parents to Sarah, Jasimin, Casper, Taz, Patch, Beuregards, Demon, Scooter, Stripe, Ivan, Calvin, Hobbs, Nikita, Norma, Eistein Junior, Coco, Bonnie, Clyde, Stinker, Grace, China (Forever Toby- Rainbow Bridge Jul 07, Forever Ben Dec 07)
|
|
|
|
|
Junior Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 4/15/2008 6:23:33 PM
Posts: 203,
Visits: 302
|
|
| I already know this is going to come across as harsh and expect a few flames- but it needs to be said - WHY on earth have you waited such an excessive length of time to seek help for this ferret? You say it has been 2 MONTHS since he has had a normal bowel movement? If you cannot work out a payment plan with your vet, then you should have long ago given the ferret to a person with a larger purse than yours. Or asked other people to help you with the costs- many vet offices have contacts for organizations that will help with vet bills. Your post was extremely difficult for me to read on several accounts, the first being one long sentence after another and no paragraphing; (no, I don't expect all posts to be literary works of art - but a few breaks or paragraphs make reading much easier); secondly the extensive period of time passing by as the poor little ferret clings to life while you continue to ignore several signs of severe illnesses. THe internet is a good place to get some information but NOT the place to seek immediate help! This ferret is in dire need of IMMEDIATE assistance! Ferrets are tiny animals with high metabolisms - long periods of diarhhea are life threatening to them. ANd a long period for a ferret is 48 HOURS - your little guy has been suffering for MONTHS. You didn't even mention attempts to offer him some basic electrolyte replacement by offering pedialyte. Abrupt stool changes can indicate irritable bowel syndrome and can be combated with pepto bismol as well as offering a better diet, one high in protein, low in carbohydrates. Creaminess and seedines of poop indicates an inability to properly digest fats. Redness of the anus and a protrusion suggests dry, undigested food causing extreme difficulty for the ferret to pass and severe dehydration as well as poor digestion. A severe red nose may be an indication of the ferret either pushing his nose against a hard object while straining to pass his excrement, or even him rubbing it on a rug in a painful response. He could have insulinoma, pancreatitis, ECE, ADV, IBS, Lymphosarcoma either one or all or a combination of these! Once a ferret has ECE, they are ALWAYS subject to relapses! This ferret needs IMMEDIATE intensive veterinary care - or humane euthanasia if you refuse vet car or won't relinquish him to someone that can care for him properly. Ferrets are tenacious little critters and will, like many animals cling to whatever life they can. The reason he is continuing to eat is because he is literally starving to death! HE is drinking too because his system is dehydrated! You don't say what food you are feeding - I suspect a fairly low quality, economy cost food - that is high in corn, corn meal, corn glutens and such that the ferret's system cannot digest. Get him to a competent ferret vet immediately! Regards, Kim
Josie made me do it! I had to build this just for her! www.vanityferret.com [ ]
|
|
|
|
|
Starting Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 10/16/2008 6:25:08 PM
Posts: 4,
Visits: 13
|
|
Ferrets are tiny animals with high metabolisms - long periods of diarhhea are life threatening to them. ANd a long period for a ferret is 48 HOURS - your little guy has been suffering for MONTHS. You didn't even mention attempts to offer him some basic electrolyte replacement by offering pedialyte.
Abrupt stool changes can indicate irritable bowel syndrome and can be combated with pepto bismol as well as offering a better diet, one high in protein, low in carbohydrates. - i myself have irritable bowel disease and figured that is what was going on with him, as it is a very common thing. like i said it would come and go with him, just these past 6-7 weeks or so it has been consistently creamy as opposed to solid or diarrhea only. i would of never thought to give a ferret peptobismol - interesting. side note: he poos very often, but he doesn't poo very much when he goes. so it isn't like he is passing more than he should, he is just passing very often, another characteristic of IBS.
Creaminess and seedines of poop indicates an inability to properly digest fats. - there is no seediness, but the creaminess, yes. thank you that is helpful.
Redness of the anus and a protrusion suggests dry, undigested food causing extreme difficulty for the ferret to pass and severe dehydration as well as poor digestion. - there is no undigested food matter in his feces. and yesterday was the only day i ever seen his anus slightly puffy or red. today it is still a little pinker than normal and a lot less puffy than it was. of course im looking at him after he goes poo, so i'm sure it will be sticking out a little more than if he were resting.
A severe red nose may be an indication of the ferret either pushing his nose against a hard object while straining to pass his excrement, or even him rubbing it on a rug in a painful response. - there is no rug or rough surfaces for him to rub against and he isn't showing any signs of difficulty when going to the bathroom. again, this was only noticed yesterday of any time in his life and today it is much less red, though the part closer to his mouth is the darkest. he licks his nose quite often, maybe it is chapped?
This ferret needs IMMEDIATE intensive veterinary care - or humane euthanasia if you refuse vet car or won't relinquish him to someone that can care for him properly. - i will not put down an animal that is clearly not willing to die.
You don't say what food you are feeding - I suspect a fairly low quality, economy cost food - that is high in corn, corn meal, corn glutens and such that the ferret's system cannot digest. - i had to change his food when the big contaminated ferret food scare occurred earlier this year. the food i switched to was much better and very high in protein, though he does get the pieces stuck in the roof of his mouth from time to time and i have to get them out or he will get them out himself with his tongue and forepaws. i dont have a bag laying around that would show the content of the food, as i pour the bags into a large plastic container to keep it fresh longer, but i will look that up and post it as soon as i can find that out.
one thing i did forget to mention is that my ferret makes this odd noise when he eats and just after he eats that resembles a gnashing or grinding sound that i can only assume comes from him rubbing his top and bottom canines together. i don't know why he does this and he just recently started to do it about 2 months ago.
i thank you for your response and the harshness of it, which is needed. ive been going on too long hoping he would get better as opposed to trying to make him better.
|
|
|
|
|
Starting Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 10/16/2008 6:25:08 PM
Posts: 4,
Visits: 13
|
|
found his food:
ZuPreem Premium Ferret Diet
Chicken meal, Chicken fat, Ground wheat,Wheat flour,
Chicken, Egg product, Beet pulp, Natural chicken flavor,
Brewers yeast, Flax seed, Potassium chloride, Choline
chloride, Iodized salt,Taurine, DL-methionine, Natural
mixed tocopherols, Rosemary extract, Citric acid, Ferrous
sulfate, Zinc oxide, Copper chloride, Manganous oxide,
Calcium iodate, Sodium selenite,Vitamin A supplement,
Vitamin D3 supplement,Vitamin E supplement,Thiamine,
Niacin, Calcium pantothenate, Pyridoxine hydrochloride,
Riboflavin, Folic acid, Biotin,Vitamin B12 supplement.
Guaranteed Analysis
Crude Protein Not less than 40.0%
Crude Fat Not less than 20.0%
Crude Fiber Not greater than 2.0%
Moisture Not greater than 10.0%
|
|
|
|
|
New Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 4/27/2008 5:10:12 PM
Posts: 84,
Visits: 337
|
|
| IBS is still required for medical attention for your little fur baby. My little Gracie has inflammatory bowel syndrom and is on a steroid once a day to help her eat. To answer the nashing of the teeth or grinding the ferrets do indicate they are in pain of some sort. They even might make a whimper noise. As far as the pepto-bismol, I give my the pepto treatment when they have the runs and the poop is watery, then depending on weight of the ferret I use from .10cc to .20cc twice a day for 2 days. If it shows now sign of stopping then I take the little down to the vet. I use to feed my crew Zupreem and had no trouble with it. One of my little ones needed a higher protien food, so the vet recommended Natural Gold, which I get via on line at Ferret Depot. It's more expensive, but they seem to enjoy it. I would still take the little one down to the vet. The redness of the nose could be caused by the fact he is going poop alot. The redness of the butt could be related to that as well and it's not going to get anybetter. When you go to the vet, call and makes sure they are ferret familiar as there are alot of vets who may not see the little ones. Also get a fresh sample of poop to take with just encase there are no fresh samples provided. The fecal exam can really tell the vet alot about your ferret. Some vets will even give an extimate of costs of proceedures so you can budget for some of that.
Proud Parents to Sarah, Jasimin, Casper, Taz, Patch, Beuregards, Demon, Scooter, Stripe, Ivan, Calvin, Hobbs, Nikita, Norma, Eistein Junior, Coco, Bonnie, Clyde, Stinker, Grace, China (Forever Toby- Rainbow Bridge Jul 07, Forever Ben Dec 07)
|
|
|
|
|
Starting Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 10/16/2008 6:25:08 PM
Posts: 4,
Visits: 13
|
|
update:
since giving him pedialyte he has been pooping less often and walking much better, not sure if this is directly related, but he does seem more active since starting on it (he apparently loves the taste, he took a smell of it when i put it down next to his water and he immediately lapped about half of it up, it's the unflavored kind too...).
earlier he wanted up in my bed for the first time in weeks. his nose is almost back to normal. he also made a semi-solid poop earlier, so that's good.
i guess the pedialyte absorbs into his system more so than the water and that is why he is pooping less often. not sure why i didn't try this before, i had read to give pedialyte when i was researching ECE a few years ago, it just didn't pop into my mind until you had mentioned it in your post, thank you.
i am predicting his weakness is associated with low levels of nutrients in his body rather than it actually being "hind leg weakness" as he is weak all over his body, not just his rear.
we'll have to see what the vet says to be sure of anything, but if it were something serious i highly doubt he would be in as good of shape he is in after this long a period.
i have a job interview today with a company my brother in law works for. it's great pay, has full benefits and an excellent opportunity to move up with. hopefully ill get the job and can afford a full battery of tests for my fuzzy. =)
|
|
|
| | |