Post by motzysmommy on Oct 17, 2013 22:37:50 GMT -5
I took my Motzy, my first and only ferret currently, to the regular vet today as his health has been gradually declining for the past month. Though I do plan on taking him to the exotic vet this weekend, I'd like to see if anyone has any info or experience with the symptoms he's having.
First off, he was born in January, so he's a little less than a year old. I bought him from a reputable pet store, and he is a Marshalls ferret. He was very rowdy and energetic when we first brought him home, and didn't seem to have any health issues. He started off on the Marshalls food that was included when I bought him, but I had changed him to cat food high in protein and he ditched the Marshalls stuff after that. But I've been seriously considering trying to get him on a raw food diet instead after further research, which I know will be harder now considering he's around that 9 month mark.
Motzy's health started to change after we brought a kitten (around 6 months old, we're assuming) home about a month ago. At first, he was curious, but the kitten wanted nothing to do with him, though I've had no experiences with them fighting/her attacking Motzy or anything. The only contact they've really had is sniffing each other and sitting relatively close to each other. I thought that he was possibly depressed because he seems to look up to our two other adult cats, and he might've thought the kitten was "taking his place." He became less active and seemed to sulk around. He also started itching himself a lot on his back, tummy, and tail to the point where it was distracting him from any other activities. I worried that maybe the kitten had mites or fleas that had attached themselves to Motzy, but saw no critters on his skin or fur.
After maybe two weeks, it had gotten to the point where he would come out of his cage and literally run two feet and plop his whole body down. It would take him at least a minute to regain energy and start moving again. His litter box would be clean as a whistle, and he would go potty anywhere BUT in the box, like on the shelves of his cage, on the floor, even next to his own food bowls. Within the past week, his stool seems softer and slightly seedy, and a few looked like they could have traces of blood. They seem to be normal in terms of color, though he did have one that look black and tar-like. He doesn't even really want to leave his cage anymore; he'd rather sleep, whereas before he would practically be chewing at the bars to get out. This past week, his weight loss has become apparent; his bones can be felt and he seems to be losing a lot of fat. His stomach became bloated and blue, which is apparently actually his spleen enlarged to where you can see it through his skin. He is sneezing, but nothing out of the ordinary, and I haven't noticed any coughing. His nose and gums are pale, so that points toward him being anemic.
The regular vet examined him today and noticed sores where he had been itching/chewing himself, so she scraped skin and hair to check for bugs and found nothing. I believe his weight was about 1.5 lbs, and I'm assuming his temp was fine because they said nothing about it after taking it. She said he appears to be anemic, and referred me to an exotic vet in the area to have X-rays and blood tests taken, as she didn't feel comfortable diagnosing him and couldn't pinpoint a certain disease because of his age and his symptoms don't seem to match up perfectly with anything.
I was wondering if anyone else has experienced or heard of anything like this with younger ferrets, as most diseases/cancers seem to effect older ferrets, though it's always possible that he could be one of those rare cases.
I have been giving him some Pedialyte, but I'm also wondering if anybody has any suggestions for feeding. The vet told me I could give him Nutrasweet for the anemia, but I'm a bit skeptical and I'd rather not do something that could make him sicker than he already is. I am getting him in ASAP to the exotic, but any suggestions or info would be great in the meantime!
First off, he was born in January, so he's a little less than a year old. I bought him from a reputable pet store, and he is a Marshalls ferret. He was very rowdy and energetic when we first brought him home, and didn't seem to have any health issues. He started off on the Marshalls food that was included when I bought him, but I had changed him to cat food high in protein and he ditched the Marshalls stuff after that. But I've been seriously considering trying to get him on a raw food diet instead after further research, which I know will be harder now considering he's around that 9 month mark.
Motzy's health started to change after we brought a kitten (around 6 months old, we're assuming) home about a month ago. At first, he was curious, but the kitten wanted nothing to do with him, though I've had no experiences with them fighting/her attacking Motzy or anything. The only contact they've really had is sniffing each other and sitting relatively close to each other. I thought that he was possibly depressed because he seems to look up to our two other adult cats, and he might've thought the kitten was "taking his place." He became less active and seemed to sulk around. He also started itching himself a lot on his back, tummy, and tail to the point where it was distracting him from any other activities. I worried that maybe the kitten had mites or fleas that had attached themselves to Motzy, but saw no critters on his skin or fur.
After maybe two weeks, it had gotten to the point where he would come out of his cage and literally run two feet and plop his whole body down. It would take him at least a minute to regain energy and start moving again. His litter box would be clean as a whistle, and he would go potty anywhere BUT in the box, like on the shelves of his cage, on the floor, even next to his own food bowls. Within the past week, his stool seems softer and slightly seedy, and a few looked like they could have traces of blood. They seem to be normal in terms of color, though he did have one that look black and tar-like. He doesn't even really want to leave his cage anymore; he'd rather sleep, whereas before he would practically be chewing at the bars to get out. This past week, his weight loss has become apparent; his bones can be felt and he seems to be losing a lot of fat. His stomach became bloated and blue, which is apparently actually his spleen enlarged to where you can see it through his skin. He is sneezing, but nothing out of the ordinary, and I haven't noticed any coughing. His nose and gums are pale, so that points toward him being anemic.
The regular vet examined him today and noticed sores where he had been itching/chewing himself, so she scraped skin and hair to check for bugs and found nothing. I believe his weight was about 1.5 lbs, and I'm assuming his temp was fine because they said nothing about it after taking it. She said he appears to be anemic, and referred me to an exotic vet in the area to have X-rays and blood tests taken, as she didn't feel comfortable diagnosing him and couldn't pinpoint a certain disease because of his age and his symptoms don't seem to match up perfectly with anything.
I was wondering if anyone else has experienced or heard of anything like this with younger ferrets, as most diseases/cancers seem to effect older ferrets, though it's always possible that he could be one of those rare cases.
I have been giving him some Pedialyte, but I'm also wondering if anybody has any suggestions for feeding. The vet told me I could give him Nutrasweet for the anemia, but I'm a bit skeptical and I'd rather not do something that could make him sicker than he already is. I am getting him in ASAP to the exotic, but any suggestions or info would be great in the meantime!
