Hi I'm new to the group, I'm Marisa and my two fuzzies are Felix (a 4 yr old male) and Felicity (a 1 year old female).
My Felix has been sick for almost two weeks now. The vet thought he had a kidney infection (he had diarrhea and was lethargic and his kidney seemed enlarged). We were treating him for that and he perked back up. Then he started throwing up and my DH found a big knot in his belly so I wound up taking him to the vet at 10:00 at night. They gave him fluids, antibiotics, and steroids by injection and the next morning the knot was down quite a bit. The vet wanted to do a $1200 surgery and he said he would either find out that it was an infection (which we would continue treating exactly the same way) or lymphoma (which is fatal). We can't afford to spend that kind of money right now, and since the outcome is either treat him exactly the way we are, or terminal cancer, we opted to continue treating him the way we are.
$600 later I have him home and he is sleeping a lot and not getting out of his hammock to eat. Yesterday I don't think he got out to eat or drink at all. He got sick last August (lost weight, lost his personality, just seemed to be not himself at all) and they found an abundance of a normally benign bacteria in his stool and they treated him for that and he seemed to get better - his personality came back, energy came back. I had never been so happy to hear a ferret scratch ;) But his weight never got back to where it once was. We did a full blood work up on him back then and never found anything wrong. I did a lot of research trying to figure out what was wrong, but nothing really jumped out at me, and since he was acting extremely healthy and normal, I decided it would just take time.
Back to the present: When he got diarrhea again yesterday I started researching and I think he might have Irritable Bowel Disease. It causes weight loss and their hair to feel coarse to the touch (which his does and my little girl Felicity has very soft hair). Eventually it can cause infections in the intestine that can cause large abceses to form so maybe that's what the lump is? The thing is this doesn't show up in blood work or anything and I can't really afford the test for it. I read the treatment for IBD is steroids and feeding bland food like chicken or turkey baby food. We already have him on steroids, so I got some baby food yesterday and am hand-feeding him it four times a day. Today I did see him get out of his hammock to drink so I'm hopeful that he's getting better.
I guess my question is does anyone have a ferret with IBD? How bad did it get before you and your vet recognized it? I'm worried that I figured it out too late and I'm beating myself up about it, even though I have spent almost $1000 on him at the vet in the past year and did hours of research. I plan to continue to give Felix the medicine orally and feed him the baby food four times a day and make sure he's drinking, unless he gets worse and then I have the info to get ahold of the vet's office and take him in for more injections and fluids. If he does okay through the weekend I am going to consult with the vet by phone on Monday and see what he thinks about the IBD.
Please wish us luck, I'm devastated to see my baby so sick. :(
There are sooo many thing this could be. Does the ferret have any blood in its stools, and do they smell like iron? Does it have mucus in it? Is it green? (all can mean different things) Also with the hair loss, that is probably a secondary condition, likely an adrenal issue caused by the stress of the other problem. When my fuzzies get these types of issues, I put them on Ceraphate, pepto, and clavamox. If it gets really bad I give them shots, and I'll have to get back to you what is in them, but its heavy duty. Its to stop the infection and clear up the irritation. The thing is, you just can't give them the steroids or antibiotics you have to alternate the meds with pepto, otherwise the meds go through them so fast they are ineffective. Also why you may need injectables. A;so try putting a little bit of pumpkin in the chicken baby food. Issues like this can take months to clear up and they can get them back again very easily. I have dealt with this in a lot of my ferrets, some get better very easily, and some never really do. I just lost a ferret who was 5 to stomach issues, and man, I did everything. But I couldn't keep enough weight on her for the meds to take hold. It is hard, and diagnosing is very hard. Good luck.
Thank you so much for your response! His hair isn't falling out, it just feels rough and coarse compared to my other baby. The article I found on IBD says this can happen due to malnutrition. I have a liquid antibiotic that is combined with pepto but this time they gave me a pill for some reason when I picked him up the last time. He's also only on half the dosage of steroids that are recommended for immune-suppression therapy to combat the flare up.
His poo has gone through all phases - brown liquid, seedly brownish yellow, it was bright green for a couple of days when his bowel was obstructed by the lump in his belly and after it went down, and he has had one solid looking normal poo. When we got our fuzzies I lived in Houston and there was an abundance of vets that dealt with ferrets, but we moved last year to a smaller town and there are only two. Unfortunately (and I hate to say it because I love the man & his staff on a personal level), I think I may have chosen the wrong one. I'm going in to square up my $400 bill with them today and then I don't think we'll be going back, depending what I find out with the other vet.
Thank you again for your response. He seems about the same, maybe a little bit perkier, and he is eating and drinking on his own now but I'm still also hand feeding him the baby food just in case. I also got advice on how to combat dehydration if he has any more diarrhea so hopefully that will help too.
It seems like you are on top of things pretty good. I hope you can find a good ferret vet. I know how hard it is. When I was new to ferrets, I spent over $2000 between an emergengy hospital and vet, bevause my ferret was dying, they did xrays, with dye, fluids all kinds of stuff, then they basically said he was going to die, and sent him home with me. I went to the store and bought a $5.00 tube of ferret lax. and in 3 hours out came a wad of chewing gum. That ferret lived 4 more years. Lucky for me I found an amazing woman who runs a ferret shelter, and she is my ferrets angel! She also told me about a great vet. Have you checked for ferret shelters in your area, they know more than the vets sometimes! I hope you find out what is wrong with your fuzzy.
Felix looked GREAT yesterday and ate his actual crunchy ferret food for the first time in days, he was drinking on his own, and he looked really perked up. Today he doesn't look as good. I think the eating may have constipated him because there is one short hard terd in his cage. I'm going to get the ferret lax and try to get things moving for him. We are going to continue the fluids and feeding him the baby food, but if he looks yucky still tomorrow we are going to try the new vet (of course unless he takes a very obvious turn today in which case I would take him immediately). My vet's original diagnosis of either the infection or the lymphoma could be right and if it is lymphoma I know I'm fighting a losing battle, but I just couldn't see spending the money and putting Felix through a rough surgery if it is a terminal condition. I want his last days to be as comfortable as possible if this is it. Thank you again for sharing your thoughts and stories with me, it helps to talk to another ferret lover. We're the only "ferents" we know and it's hard to discuss them with some people because they don't understand all of the dynamics.
what else can i feed my ferret??
- sahm_of_rj
on Apr. 11, 2009 at 1:25 PM