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Post by RyanHawkins on Jun 16, 2015 21:55:37 GMT -5
Hello all!
I'm hoping someone may have had some experience with dehydration and ferrets before. I adopted my ferret, Suzy Creamcheese, in October 2014. Between then and now, he's randomly stopped eating for a few days at a time here and there, but lately he's gotten a lot worse. He's been to 3 different vets and has been (and is currently on) lots of medications to try to help him. My dilemma is this: he's clinically very dehydrated. His skin doesn't snap back into place like it should, his gums are tacky, he seems weak. The thing is though, his Urine Specific Gravity was normal. His kidney function was also normal. We've been giving him subq fluids daily (50-100mls per day) and he's still SO dehydrated.
Maybe someone has had experience with this and can offer some advice?
Thanks so much!
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Post by ferretbrah on Jun 16, 2015 22:47:03 GMT -5
Hat meds and doses is he on?
What is his diet?
Age?
Have any pics of his stool/ pee?
Does he drink water a lot ?
Energy levels ?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2015 3:41:06 GMT -5
I had a chinchilla with severe dehydration and we did the subq fluids treatment and giving some natural aloe juice with a syringe (you can also mix it in with his water). I don't know if that could help, I believe that if its 100% ONLY natural aloe vera juice it will not harm your ferret and is compatible with whatever medicine you are giving at the moment  Plus The aloe is good for many other things and will help with his general well being. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2015 6:51:11 GMT -5
This comment is irrelevant other than to say I like the Frank Zappa reference. Sent from my Nexus 6 using proboards |
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Post by RyanHawkins on Jun 17, 2015 7:10:54 GMT -5
Hat meds and doses is he on? What is his diet? Age? Have any pics of his stool/ pee? Does he drink water a lot ? Energy levels ? His vet ruled out a foreign body, so he's currently on famotidine (Pepcid), Bayril, Biosponge, and Imuran. His normal diet is a mixture of 8in1 crunchy (the star shapes) and Orijen cat and kitten food. Right now he's on Hills A/D wet food that we have to syringe into his mouth because he won't eat dry food and he's never willingly eaten wet food. I don't have any pictures of his stool or urine, but his stool is either a very mucousy diarrhea that is some kind of yellow, orange, or light brown. And his urine when he's sick is always neon to dark dark yellow. He doesn't drink a lot of water on his own, he'll start drinking (whether it be from his bowl or his water bottle, he does the same thing) and then start gagging and shaking his head like a maniac, then he gives up and goes back to sleep. His energy levels lately have been a little lower than normal. He definitely has always loved his sleep, but he's been sleeping almost all the time. When he does get up to play, though, he acts like there's nothing wrong with him. Other info: he's somewhere around 4 years old, he has a history of GI ulcers (he was on sucralfate for them up until yesterday), he has a girlfriend named Big Leg Emma, who is 5 months and and completely healthy, so it isn't anything that could be contagious. |
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Post by unclejoe on Jun 17, 2015 9:16:46 GMT -5
how long was he on sucralfate, and how long has he been on the other drugs? It definitely sounds like he's not drinking enough so there has to be a reason for it. Kibble fed ferrets usually drink during or right after eating. Is he eating the same amount? That is a LOT of fluids to be taking by injection, basically, an entire day's worth. The dark urine says concentrated, like maybe he doesn't go often enough. Has he had his throat checked out? Maybe he's having a hard time swallowing. I'm thinking megaesophagus. Try elevating the food and water bowls so he has to raise his head to eat and drink, even stand on his back feet. miamiferret.org/megaesophagus.htm |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2015 9:20:36 GMT -5
Welcome to the HFF  I'm sorry that your Suzy Creamcheese isn't doing well. Dehydration is hard on a little guy. Medical advice is not my strong suit. However, we have ferrents who will be able to offer some advice or suggestions. They should check in sometime this morning, let's see what they have to say. You say he has been to three vets and none could help. Geez, are any of those Ferret specialists? We have a vet list, let me link it for you. There are actually two lists, one by country and state and one that people add to, as they find a good vet. holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/13638/vet-country-stateholisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/6/list-vet?page=4Good luck and please keep us posted. |
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Post by unclejoe on Jun 17, 2015 9:28:32 GMT -5
further reading the above article says you should not use a bowl for food or water, if megaesophagus is the case. The throat needs to be straight and head elevated, so a water bottle would be needed. And syringe feeding from the time it's diagnosed, for the same reason. IF that's what you're dealing with.
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Post by RyanHawkins on Jun 17, 2015 10:40:17 GMT -5
He was on sucralfate from his first vet back in November for 2 weeks, from the second vet in March for 2 weeks, and he was on it for a week and stopped it yesterday after his vet appointment last night. He has been on Imuran since last Tuesday, so 8 days now. He was on amoxicillin for 5 weeks, stopped that yesterday. This is the second time we've tried famotidine, he was on it for 2 weeks in April and he started it again yesterday. The Baytril and Biosponge were just started yesterday also and this is the first time he's been on either of those. He hasn't been eating or drinking himself very much, I've been syringe feeding him Hills A/D (high fat content and appetite stimulating if your not familiar with it), and syringe feeding him diluted unflavored pedialyte, and giving him 40mls subq 0.9% saline twice a day. When he does eat, he tries to drink afterword and gags on it. He did have barium radiographs done to rule out a foreign body, and I think that would've shown megaesophagus, but I'll mention that to his vet at his recheck appointment next week. He usually doesn't have a problem with eating when he does eat, but he makes a little squeaking noise when he swallows water, even from the water bottle. The first vet he went to was an exotics vet, but I wasn't a fan of her so we didn't go back. The second was a small animal vet and she's a great doctor and tried really hard to get him healthy, but she doesn't normally see ferrets, so that didn't work out. The one he's seeing now is Dr. Robert Wagner, the link to his bio will be at the end of this. He's definitely the best vet I've been to for Suzy so far. www.drbobwagner.com/about/ |
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Post by Heather on Jun 17, 2015 11:06:30 GMT -5
One thing to consider and it runs along the line of megaesophagus is throat ulcers. These occur a lot more than we like to think. We often don't notice this because it takes two people to see them...one to hold the ferret in the right light and the other to look down it's throat when it yawns. As there isn't vomiting, I'm doubting Mega E, but it should be ruled out. Throat ulcers or something caught in the back of the throat would cause the symptoms your little one is displaying
ciao
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Post by RyanHawkins on Jun 25, 2015 14:17:33 GMT -5
Update:
Suzy's vet ruled out megaesophagus through barium X-rays. He's now on 1ml Imuran once a day, 1ml Pepcid twice a day, 1ml biosponge twice a day, 1 pinch of Tylan twice a day, and 0.2ml Baytril twice a day. He's also getting about 15ml feline a/d through a syringe twice a day and dry feline i/d whenever he wants it. He's been eating about a tablespoon of that on his own daily. He's also getting 30ml 0.9% saline SQ twice a day, which he absorbs very quickly. When he gets the fluids, he also gets about 5ml pedialyte to balance out his electrolytes. Last Tuesday he was 0.68kg and this past Tuesday he was 0.7kg. His vet would like a recheck in 2 weeks.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 25, 2015 17:16:12 GMT -5
Last Tuesday he was 0.68kg and this past Tuesday he was 0.7kg
Is that his weight?
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Post by crazylady on Jun 25, 2015 17:54:11 GMT -5
I think it could be 700g if so its still pretty light for a male can I ask does he have any white in his mouth or on his tounge ? like a coating ? I am wondering is his stomach acids are out of sync and he is suffering with a form of acid reflux which is causing him problems when he eats take care bye for now
Bev
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Post by Blue on Jun 25, 2015 17:56:57 GMT -5
Last Tuesday he was 0.68kg and this past Tuesday he was 0.7kgIs that his weight? Yeah, 0.68 kg = 680 g as Bev says above, and that's 1 lb 8 oz. 0.70 kg = 700 g = 1 lb 8.7 oz |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 25, 2015 18:10:22 GMT -5
Thanks BlueWhen I converted it, it came out wrong and scared me. (shy) |
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