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Post by ivannag on Feb 19, 2012 13:57:49 GMT -5
Hi everyone I'm new on here. I have 5 ferrets and 3 cats. My almost 6 yr old girl Baby has been on Pred for close to 2 years for insulinoma. Several months ago she got ringworm which spiraled out of control and has never gone away after numerous attempts at treatment. She has seen over 6 different veterinarians including holistic&dermatologists and had laser treatment. She is currently on Baytril,pentoxifylline,itraconazole,Diazoxide,Pred and was on interferon for about a month. Her skin condition has turned into pus filled masses on both sides of her bottom end. These masses are usually covered in little scabs scattered all over. Her biopsies come back with ringworm and at one point staph. The reason for my post today is that practically overnight her skin over the pus filled pockets has developed about 20 gouges. It kooks like Swiss cheese or craters in her skin. I know that the Pred causes immune weakening and its obvious she cannot heal properly bc of this. I don't know if this is her body finally shutting down or possibly that one of the meds are finally kicking in and this is her body's way of getting rid of all the pus? My question is does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can use on these raw gouges that will truly help her heal? I started apple cider vinegar and will be doing oatmeal today. I also put betadine on and she was shaking for about 10 mins afterwards probably bc it was so painful. She will be seeing the vet again tomorrow morning and I'm afraid he's going to suggest putting her down. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2012 14:18:41 GMT -5
I wouldn't put apple cider vinegar on open wounds unless it's highly diluted, at full strength it can kill skin. I know from experience, I have used it to strip off warts and other skin blemishes. If the skin wasn't raw before, prolonged exposure to vinegar would make it raw.
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Post by rebel135 on Feb 19, 2012 14:28:00 GMT -5
our horses at the farm got ringworm last winter we followed what the gave us and it just spread to the cat / dog then a small animal vet suggested a bunch of different drugs the to didn't work then old cow vet told us to mix sulfur flower with some mineral oil and apply twice a day and it worked with in the week not sure how sulfur is with ferrets but it worked for the cat ! good luck
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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2012 14:38:56 GMT -5
I really don't know how to help, but I hope everything will work out for the best and she will get better. Best of luck!
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Post by katt on Feb 19, 2012 14:53:35 GMT -5
Ugh, poor baby! I don't have mug suggestion wise other than silver sulfadiazine. It's a very good antibiotic/healing ointment. I think of it as neosporin on crack. It's used to treat burns in humans and is prescribed for many things in animals. As my vet said recently, it will kill just about any of the nastiest infections - bacteria, fungus, etc. I have used it on all of my animals and myself, sometimes the difference is seen overnight. It's fairly cheap for a tube that lasts quite a long time. Other than that all I can say is I'm sorry. I know this isn't what you want to hear but it sounds and looks like she is in quite a lot of pain. And ferrets are good at hiding pain. It also sounds like she has been uncomfotable for a very long time. Sometimes as hard as it is, the nicest thing you can do is put an animal to sleep. I'm not there to see her so I don't know what her attitude is like and how bad things really are, but from what little you have shared it doesn't sound good. Also in my experience with the vets I work with, they only ever suggest euthanasia in 2 ways: things are winding down and it might be time to start preparing and considering putting the animal down soon, and this animal is in a lot of pain and there is not much we can do, it would be the nicest thing. So if your vet does discuss Euthenaisa please don't disregard him or tune him out because you are upset. Listen carefully to how he words it to determine which situation he is suggesting. I have never met a vet who suggests euthanasia lightly. Take his words into careful consideration, determine what he is trying to tell you, and make a decision from there keeping her best interest in mind. It is hard and I hope it doesn't come to that. I wish you and your little girl the best.
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Post by Sherry on Feb 19, 2012 16:27:02 GMT -5
At the very lease, I'd talk to the vet about also getting her something like buprenorphin for the pain. That poor girl! Also, start her on some reishi mushrooms just to help boost her immune system. I hate to say it, but I'd also listen to what katt just wrote I'm going to message Jennifer, and see if she has any ideas that might help.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2012 20:50:00 GMT -5
If its progressed to that point: sweetie, that's bad! My brother has impetigo, which is similar to that stuff. but if she has been going like that anywhere close to six months and not getting well, it may be that she's just too sick to recover. if its not over 3 months, there's still hope. Check and see if its a viral or bacteria infection in the blood. Could she have ferret impetigo? I know that staph causes human impetigo, and it looks like thats what it is, another staph infection. Staph infections are ridiculously hard to get rid of; my brother keeps having them every 5 months and its discouraging.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2012 20:59:26 GMT -5
I'm gonna second Sherry, if she's not on any kind of pain control, she needs some!! Buprenorphine is a safe drug to give older kids and the nice thing is they don't have to swallow it, it just needs to be absorbed through mucous membranes (under the tongue is best).
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Post by ivannag on Feb 19, 2012 21:55:38 GMT -5
Ugh, poor baby! I don't have mug suggestion wise other than silver sulfadiazine. It's a very good antibiotic/healing ointment. I think of it as neosporin on crack. It's used to treat burns in humans and is prescribed for many things in animals. As my vet said recently, it will kill just about any of the nastiest infections - bacteria, fungus, etc. I have used it on all of my animals and myself, sometimes the difference is seen overnight. It's fairly cheap for a tube that lasts quite a long time. Other than that all I can say is I'm sorry. I know this isn't what you want to hear but it sounds and looks like she is in quite a lot of pain. And ferrets are good at hiding pain. It also sounds like she has been uncomfotable for a very long time. Sometimes as hard as it is, the nicest thing you can do is put an animal to sleep. I'm not there to see her so I don't know what her attitude is like and how bad things really are, but from what little you have shared it doesn't sound good. Also in my experience with the vets I work with, they only ever suggest euthanasia in 2 ways: things are winding down and it might be time to start preparing and considering putting the animal down soon, and this animal is in a lot of pain and there is not much we can do, it would be the nicest thing. So if your vet does discuss Euthenaisa please don't disregard him or tune him out because you are upset. Listen carefully to how he words it to determine which situation he is suggesting. I have never met a vet who suggests euthanasia lightly. Take his words into careful consideration, determine what he is trying to tell you, and make a decision from there keeping her best interest in mind. It is hard and I hope it doesn't come to that. I wish you and your little girl the best. Thank you Katt for the kind words. You helped me feel a little less depressed about the thought of putting her down.
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Post by ivannag on Feb 19, 2012 21:57:58 GMT -5
If its progressed to that point: sweetie, that's bad! My brother has impetigo, which is similar to that stuff. but if she has been going like that anywhere close to six months and not getting well, it may be that she's just too sick to recover. if its not over 3 months, there's still hope. Check and see if its a viral or bacteria infection in the blood. Could she have ferret impetigo? I know that staph causes human impetigo, and it looks like thats what it is, another staph infection. Staph infections are ridiculously hard to get rid of; my brother keeps having them every 5 months and its discouraging. It never even crossed my mind that it could be impetigo but it does seem to look and sound alot like it. I'll see what vet thinks about it tomorrow.
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Post by ivannag on Feb 19, 2012 22:03:42 GMT -5
Thank you, I am taking every bit of advice. Definitely getting her on pain meds.
Does anyone know a good way to dress a ferret wound and keep it on? She keeps licking off everything I put on her. One vet suggested making a bodysuit, but I haven't got a clue where to even start.
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Post by Sherry on Feb 19, 2012 23:49:39 GMT -5
Whatever ointment you may need to use, order some sudocream to spread over it. They don't like the taste and won't lick it. Good luck with this poor baby, and please keep us updated? Out of curiosity- has the vet ever done a culture on those? It would give a better idea of what antibiotic may work. And a skin scraping should tell if it's sarcoptic mange(animal version of impetigo). The vet should be able to see the mites under the microscope.
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Post by Heather on Feb 20, 2012 1:22:54 GMT -5
Thank you, I am taking every bit of advice. Definitely getting her on pain meds. Does anyone know a good way to dress a ferret wound and keep it on? She keeps licking off everything I put on her. One vet suggested making a bodysuit, but I haven't got a clue where to even start. I've heard of using socks...sport socks (the leg part) as a body tube for adrenal ferrets. It might be worth a shot. I wish you luck on this. I used this recipe for my dog. He was never actually diagnosed as having mange, as sometimes making a positive diagnosis of mange is difficult. It was either that or severe allergies. Either way, this recipe provided relief and stopped him tearing himself apart. There was nothing that the vets offered that was helping him anyway, so I had reached frustration point. I'm going to give you the site, you can read through and decide for yourself. www.earthclinic.com/Pets/dog_mange_cure.htmlDid it help? I'm not sure, but it certainly didn't hurt. He's not had another attack since which is more than I can say the stuff the vet gave me offered. It's just a thought. ciao
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2012 3:13:30 GMT -5
Sherry, to be honest, if its a staph infection, or impetigo in any form or way, it'll be hard to diagnose i think. Josiah went months without being diagnosed (and poor child had so many cultures taken!) til a random doctor one day said "oh, it looks like impetigo." And it was! So, she can have culture taken, but if the vet isn't knowledgeable about this kind of thing, I don't know if the poor thing will get an accurate diagnosis. From what Ivannag said, it looks like a horrible staph infection in the blood causing bubbles that pop and crater. It sounds like its been going on for a while, Josiah's did that til medicine could control it, so it doesn't crater as bad.
All the same ivannag, don't discard what the others say, it may not be even impetigo, but a similiar disease with more deadly results for your little ferret. Human-size, staph takes a while to make somebody really sick. In a ferret, the body size is smaller and it can multiply more quickly. It can still be deadlier for a ferret than a human.
We're all lighting healing candles for your baby, Ivannag. Come back and tell us what the Doc said, okay?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2012 3:30:23 GMT -5
Does anyone know a good way to dress a ferret wound and keep it on? She keeps licking off everything I put on her. One vet suggested making a bodysuit, but I haven't got a clue where to even start. Some vet clinics carry stockinette bandages (I think that's what it's called) It's basically an elastic fabric tube that comes in varying widths that you can cut to size that's used to cover incisions, wounds, etc. You can ask if they have anything like that. A pharmacy might even carry some in the first aid section. It's basically the same idea as the sock mentioned above, just cut some leg holes and make sure the whole thing isn't too constricting. (hint: it lasts longer and is a little sturdier if you double it up, just my own personal experience).
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