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Post by sherik on Mar 15, 2015 11:29:30 GMT -5
Hello there. My little guy named fog has been dealing with a horrible ear infection for many months. Many different antibiotics tried. Without a ct scan we have no idea what or where it is. Believe it spread to his mastoid bone. So he was put on IV ampicillin for two weeks, and now he is on oral clavamox. While his ear is finally starting to feel better and he is more alert. He is now constipated due to all the antibiotics. He's drinking plenty of water and still eating awesome. But so tight and bloated, while he is pooping, he is not pooping enough for what he has eaten. I'll be emailing my vet to ask her opinion, but she is away until this afternoon. Can I give him yogurt to help replace the good bacteria, since that is usually the reason for being constipated? If so what kind of yogurt? I bought some plain, but does it have to be lactose free, or is there something better? I don;t want to give it to him, if it will make it worse. And he doesn't have a blockage, he's been so sick that he doesn't even groom himself to even cause a hairball, so I know he's not chewing on anything, plus he's been sleeping with me in the bedroom for the past 3 weeks. I just want him to feel better, finally get his ear under control and then this happens.
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Post by unclejoe on Mar 15, 2015 11:50:06 GMT -5
You can use yogurt for now, but you can buy liquid probiotics, with lactobicillus and acidophillus. Yogurt does contain beneficial bacteria, but not in large amounts. We got a 16 oz bottle of probiotics (10 billion live cells) from Piping Rock for around $6. It also has Bifidus, Bulgaricus, no sugar, no sodium, no carbs. You should be able to find it in smaller bottles at GNC or other health food stores.
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Post by Celene on Mar 15, 2015 11:59:33 GMT -5
I don't have experience with constipation related to antibiotics, but some of the traditional "ferret laxatives" like salmon oil and eggs might help give him temporary relief. This is obviously not a sustainable solution as it doesn't address the underlying issue, just a stop-gap measure until your vet can recommend something better.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 15, 2015 14:05:15 GMT -5
you would need to be careful giving probiotics----for this reason------- they can make humans gassy and tummy hurt----for example my daughter who took one of my probiotics,so i can imagine they can do the same to ferrets----trying to figure the right amount to give to a ferret is tricky. if there was some research to the amount.....
Just my opinion......
yes a little salmon oil and egg seems good
maybe after round of antibiotics u can try tiny ,tiny pinches of probiotics---again my opinion
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Post by unclejoe on Mar 15, 2015 15:15:49 GMT -5
Yes, go easy on it. For example, a human dose of the one I described is 2 tbsp. probably 0.3 mL would be sufficient for a fuzz. That's what we were giving Alice.
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Post by Heather on Mar 15, 2015 15:58:24 GMT -5
Is this ferret raw fed? Increase muscle meat or add an egg every couple of days. Chances are between his meds and his inactivity (like most humans) he's not getting things moving around enough. You don't mention an age, this could also be a bearing. If his tummy continues to be tight and distended, I would be tempted to do a xray, just to rule out other possible problems ciao
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Post by unclejoe on Mar 15, 2015 20:06:30 GMT -5
I agree. large doses of antibiotics can kill off beneficial gut bacteria, and activity helps move stuff through the gut. You say constipation, but he's pooping some. That's good. Probiotics won't cause any harm, but keep monitoring him. It doesn't sound like a blockage yet, to me. If he stops pooping, it gets serious. I hope and pray that all he's been through fixes him. and please give him a hug for me
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Post by Deleted on Mar 16, 2015 4:52:28 GMT -5
To me giving probiotics while on antibiotics may not help, because the antibiotics r just going to kill it, so my opinion is do probiotics after round of antibiotics--------Any thoughts? ?? my vet said that a ferret does not have much flora in gut--maybe because food passes thru so quickly--not much can be established? just an interesting piece of info to me. How is his teeth? ? is it possible he has a bad tooth that is sending an infection to ear------just a wild thought. Poor baby----hugs from me too. like the idea of getting him to move around
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Post by Celene on Mar 16, 2015 8:39:30 GMT -5
Hmm... You could also try giving him a stomach massage - I know that they do that for human hospital patients (often when they're bedridden) but I'm not sure what the correct technique would be for a ferret. If he's really bloated you'd also (obviously) want to be very gentle doing it.
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Post by sherik on Mar 22, 2015 13:48:34 GMT -5
Sorry for the late reply. Foggy is 4 years old.... he had his teeth cleaned 6 months ago. they were bad, but no infections or pockets. Yes he is raw fed, but he eats primarily freeze dried raw, all with water added and blended to a soupy. He is done his antibiotics now. I've been giving him a very small amount of probiotics and everything seems to be moving and he is not bloated. He has had xrays. I think a lot is lack of movement. But he has been starting to get around. Actually suspecting he has a vitamin b12 deficiency causing a lot of his neurological problems. We started him on b12 injections on Tuesday, and he will get one, once a week. His blood work came back saying he has anisocytosis, where your red blood cells are different sizes. One of the biggest causes is b12 deficiency. We will be doing another blood test once my vet comes back next Monday. But so far, today he crawled through a tube that goes up and around a futon. He hasn't done that in months.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 22, 2015 14:26:11 GMT -5
I am glad vet figured out his problems and he is doing better.
That is interesting---the b12 shots---because my vet just mentioned that to me a couple wks ago--- like if a ferret gets IBD--they can get a b12 deficiency as well, my senior gets diarrhea a lot-- we were hoping not IBD.
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