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Post by Heather on May 11, 2013 18:53:55 GMT -5
Is it possible that she's been bitten, by say a spider or something like that? Her ear looks like Fun-Go's did and he was bitten by a spider. He wound up with a cauliflower ear from that bite but it does look like that. Is this possible? ciao
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Post by bitbyter on May 11, 2013 19:03:57 GMT -5
It could be I guess each time it has always happened when they've been in the cage overnight but I haven't found any spiderwebs anywhere. The swelling has gone down on her ear, her head above her eye is about the same but he foot is HUGE and making her a bit clumsy when walking / running around. She doesn't show any signs of pain when you manipulate the bump on her head or leg. Her ear is sore of course because of the scratching but it is looking a bit better (it ins't pussy anymore and has crusted over well). She is drinking, pooping and is hungry (she's been banging the food dish over the last hour).
One thing I am wondering about as a possibility is could she have wiped off some of the ear medication on something in the cage when she was getting it and it is still affecting her when she touches it? It is sooo strange that it is only affecting her in specific places each time. Oh, and me vet said to try Neosporin eyedrops as a topical treatment as well as the oral antibiotics we are giving her. I could only find Polysporin, would that make a difference (I haven't used it yet).
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Post by Heather on May 11, 2013 19:18:25 GMT -5
I was thinking because the swelling appeared totally "odd" that perhaps a bite made the most sense. Have you stopped using that ear meds? It shouldn't still be viable in the bedding I wouldn't think but if it's like my sensitivity to penicillin...maybe. I only need to touch it. ciao
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Post by bitbyter on May 11, 2013 19:29:10 GMT -5
I stopped the ear meds as soon as we thought it was allergy related which was 11 days ago. Also, if it was a bite, you'd think Socks would have had a run in with whatever it is since this started but she has been fine this whole time.
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Post by Deleted on May 11, 2013 20:17:29 GMT -5
I hope you get this figured out soon and she is feeling better quickly! Have you given the cage a good scrub down and washed all the bedding just to be on the safe side?
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Post by bitbyter on May 11, 2013 20:19:57 GMT -5
Doing that tomorrow.
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Post by bitbyter on May 11, 2013 20:25:22 GMT -5
Here is the video from tonight. Been fighting with photobucket for 2 hrs.
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Post by bitbyter on May 12, 2013 7:59:58 GMT -5
Morning Update:
Head swelling above her right eye is almost totally gone. Right front paw is still swollen but has gone down quite a bit and is no longer red. Ear is now scabbed over well and no longer swollen or pussy. Not sure if this is just time / her immune system taking care of it or if the two doses of antibiotics she has had are helping. I just don't want this to reoccur again!!
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Post by Deleted on May 12, 2013 10:37:58 GMT -5
Apologies for not being up-to-speed on Wilma's health history. I read this thread - I recommend blood work (CBC with chem panel) along with skin biopsy, if possible.
I can think a number of issues that can result in swelling with skin lesions - Allergies can be very weird. I've seen swollen, bruised-looking adrenal lesions the size of a quarter pop up overnight that are gone without a trace the following day. This usually happens with advanced cases of adrenal, and ferrets are typically anemic at this stage. EG can result in selling of ears and legs, but your ferret does not fit the classic profile. Lymphoma can do some very weird things as well - there is a cutaneous form of the disease as well.
There are quite a few possibilities, this is why I recommend the diagnostics. If you try a bunch of different things without the diagnostics, you may end up spending the money anyway and prolonging the diagnosis.
Sending healing thoughts to Wilma. -jennifer
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Post by katt on May 12, 2013 11:42:36 GMT -5
Poor baby. I would definitely do a culture and some blood work. Possibly a biopsy too depending on what those come back with.
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Post by bitbyter on May 12, 2013 15:41:29 GMT -5
So the bump over her eye is totally gone now. Paw is still swollen but no longer red. Ear is no longer swollen and has scabbed over well and would heal if I could get her to leave it alone (she keeps scratching it). Any advise on how to prevent her from scratching the ear as it heals? I'm going to take her back to the vet for some diagnostics when I can get an appointment.
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Post by katt on May 12, 2013 15:55:11 GMT -5
I would suggest a collar, but good luck keeping that on! They make soft e-collars, but I am sure she could slip out. Perhaps if you put her in a harness and secured it to the collar portion of the harness? She won't like it though, I can tell you that much. I'm not sure how comfortable I would feel leaving her unsupervised in a harness either. What if it snagged on something...?
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Post by bitbyter on May 12, 2013 16:05:23 GMT -5
I've never been able to keep a harness on either of my girls (they're just to small and wriggle out). I can't imagine what trying to keep an e-collar on would be like.
I just trimmed her nails right down so hopefully that helps.
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Post by Deleted on May 12, 2013 22:42:28 GMT -5
I agree - trim the nails and let the little gorl be 0 anything weird collar, etc. would be very stressful - worse than the scraped up ear.
-jennifer
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Post by bitbyter on May 14, 2013 8:58:04 GMT -5
Well the antibiotics seem to be helping. She doesn't seem to be sleeping as much as she was. Her ear is healing up nicely. All the swelling has gone on her paw and face. Today she fought like a devil-ferret when I gave her the meds so I'm guessing she is feeling better. If she shows any symptoms after the antibiotics are done than I'm going to take her in for full diagnostic blood work and hopefully that will shed some light on this. I am really hoping after the full treatment of meds it doesn't come back though.
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