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Post by Sherry on Aug 7, 2013 22:14:21 GMT -5
Regardless- it's an improvement! And even if you've not been able to do a complete exclusion diet yet, it does seem to be indicating rabbit as being the culprit.
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Post by bitbyter on Aug 8, 2013 12:21:44 GMT -5
She had a bit of swelling on her feet yesterday but is subsided in about 2 hours (usually lasted 48 hrs before we started on the prednisolone and were only useing children's benydrile). I think there was some rabbit liver in the organs they got yesterday morning. Her appetite is still good, activity level good, etc.
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Post by bitbyter on Dec 2, 2013 19:03:29 GMT -5
So after a long and arduous elimination diet I have finally determined that Wilma is allergic to ALL POULTRY!! !@*#&@ Turkey is the worse with very visible swelling and itchiness even on her medication, chicken is next and quail just promotes a bit of a reaction. With this knowledge I am hoping to get her weaned of the prednisolone shortly after Christmas. I've luckily found a small local rabbitry that has rabbit at about half the price of the grocery store and I can get all organs with it. So their current diet is rabbit, pork and whole prey (rats, mice and guinea pig). I am hoping to soon add beef and goat but they are being stubborn about the beef.
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Post by Thérèse on Dec 3, 2013 4:43:27 GMT -5
Oh that's good, here's hoping it's smooth sailing from here, even though they are ferrets!
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Post by Sherry on Dec 3, 2013 9:41:29 GMT -5
Of course she'd have to choose the one relatively cheap bone source to be allergic to (disappointed)
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Post by bitbyter on Mar 19, 2014 19:31:01 GMT -5
Just an update on Wilma and her issues. We've been able to reduce her pred dose to 1.25 mg (quarter of a pill) every other day. She seems stable on this dose (poops are good, no prolapse activity, no itching and good energy levels). I tried stretching it out to every 3 days but I started to see itching, bad poops and slight prolapse activity so I moved back to every other day. Their current diet is rabbit, juvenile rats, adult mice and guinea pigs. They both refuse to have anything to do with beef (Socks actually runs away from it) and I haven't had the opportunity to try goat. Occasionally they get antibiotic free pork as she immediately reacts to normal pork. This is what has convinced me that it is an antibiotic in the meat that she is reacting to.
I still haven't had the time to start testing her with organic poultry to see if she can eat that but am hoping to do so in the next few weeks.
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Post by msav on Mar 20, 2014 9:24:01 GMT -5
Funny thing is. all 3 of mine have refused to eat store bought chicken. I bought some whole chicken from my last rodent pro order and they love it. It is a bit of a pain to have to semi-pluck but At least they are eating chicken. They were 2 month old barred rock chickens.
It really makes me wonder what they are feeding and injecting into these store bought chickens. I really think that some animals know if something is off.
I know a while back there was a story about some poultry farms feeding there chickens sawdust and god knows what other stuff.
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Post by Thérèse on Mar 22, 2014 8:58:11 GMT -5
Good to hear she can be kept stable and is doing well.
Don't know why they have to mess with food so much. Wonder how many people think they are allergic to certain foods when it is really just the food has been messed with?
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Post by bitbyter on Mar 22, 2014 9:05:56 GMT -5
I have a sneaking suspicion that a LOT of ferret food sensitivities are due to this. Most meats are tested for antibiotic residues / drugs so they are safe for human consumption but I bet that they are all tested AFTER cooking. The antibiotics probably don't survive the cooking process but could still be unacceptably high when the meat is raw. It's just a theory at the moment but I think it is quite possible.
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Post by Heather on Mar 22, 2014 14:45:37 GMT -5
Jason, they tested for phenobarbitol in kibbles and the residue remained.....think about how that affects the food chain. Kibbles are cooked to the extreme. There is supposedly a dry off period where animals aren't allowed to be fed antibiotics prior to slaughter but no one saying that if you're susceptible to the drug that is being used then you will have a reaction. It used to be put in their feed as a preventative measure. That process was stopped when they discovered they were creating super bugs this way. I know that when a farmer we were getting our milk from was treating his milker she was put on a penicillin type drug (I'm highly allergic)...I reacted to the milk. Your theory carries a lot of weight. ciao
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Post by Thérèse on Mar 24, 2014 7:26:41 GMT -5
After these posts I went to the market and had a moment of worry. Among other things I wanted to get some lamb hearts for Jelly. The packet of them at the butchers though had a really long use by date, much longer than normal, about a month. So asked if they were just plain or if something had been added and the guy said they were plain. I said it worried me because the use by date was so long and so much food is messed with these days. He looked at the date and so asked the head butcher. Turns out he had packaged them to sell frozen and when he does that he puts a longer date but then he had changed his mind and put them out in the fridge to be sold fresh and forgot he'd dated them for frozen sale. He said I should use them by the middle of this week!
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Post by bitbyter on Mar 24, 2014 8:04:28 GMT -5
Yep, mistakes can happen. Human error can occur at any point on the food chain. That is a risk that we all take but what I am more concerned about at those bending or flagrantly ignoring the rules to increase profits. The other concern is that because humans don't eat meat raw, a lot of the acceptable levels could be based on cooking being part of the testing process. We just don't know at the moment. I'm hoping to do more research on this when I have some time.
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Post by bitbyter on Mar 31, 2014 8:47:43 GMT -5
Well, we are a few meals in with organic chicken and Wilma has had NO REACTION to it at all!! (dance)
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Post by bitbyter on Jul 10, 2014 7:34:38 GMT -5
Update on Wilmas condition. Things have progressed very will since figuring things out. I have been able to slowly wean her on her pred to only giving it to her every 5 days. She seems to start to get itchy at about the 4.5 day mark and if I let it go any longer she starts to get hives again and swollen ears by about day 7. That is the longest I've left it. So she still has her issues but by avoiding regular meat and sticking to antibiotic free / organic we have improved the situation tremendously.
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Post by bitbyter on Jan 10, 2016 22:52:07 GMT -5
Just an update on Wilma's situation. Her pred has been stretched out to 1.25 mg (quarter of a 5 mg pill) every 7 days. Her diet consists of rabbit, African soft furred rats and hormone / antibiotic free pork. Her weight and activity are good and she is a happy ferret. Just recently she started showing signs of adrenal disease so got a DES implant and is responding well (fur is just starting to regrow on her tail).
Tag / Search Terms:
ferret swelling face paws ears IBS vomiting diarrhea itching projectile vomit
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