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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2011 15:06:27 GMT -5
Some input on after surgery care pls! Poor boy has been through the mill these last weeks. He needs rest to recover. The vet said other then keeping him out of water (aka dogs water bowl) there is no incision care (bonus) However ... my concerns on how much to let him do. He was begging to come out of cage so let him out, he roamed the house checking it out making sure no one moved anything. He didn't try jumping, which i would have stopped anyways. But I put him back in cage after 5 mins... which he was NOT thrilled with LOL (too stupid to lay down!has always been a phrase that fits him!) SO do i trust him to know his limits or set them for him? Heres pic of his owies. caught mid scratch... jugular iv shave..which he pulled out... tummy and bit of arm Iv... which he pulled out... Big owie
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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2011 15:10:11 GMT -5
Oh poor nakie baby! I would restrict him to the cage, give him lots of warm places to snuggle in to try to keep him sleeping so he can rest and recover. What a strong little boy
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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2011 15:10:55 GMT -5
That poor little munchkin! No more adventures for him, and leave the earplugs/phones alone!
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Post by katt on Apr 20, 2011 15:38:17 GMT -5
Oh Neka! Ok so you should probably separate him from the other ferrets. Rough housing could end badly. Give him his own level with no shelves or hammocks for at least a few days. When Koda had his surgery, if I remember correctly the vet said no jumping or high activity levels for a Minimum of a week. I felt bad but I just left Koda in the cage a lot. He would get so bored he would just sleep - which is exactly what his body needed to help him recover. He should sleep a little more than usual on his own anyways because it is tiring recovering from a major surgery like that. I would then let him out for supervised play in small intervals. Maybe an hour or so then back in the cage for rest. He could walk around and run around and play, but if he started getting too wild or trying too hard to jump on things he went back into the cage for a nap. I have to say that I was pretty impressed at his own self control. lol Koda didn't try to jump for the first few days, and he really did sleep a LOT on his own. After a week or two of this, start gradually increasing what you allow him to do, gentle excursions with cage mates, longer play times, etc. But still keep things gentle. Keep the incision clean but really like your vet said you don't have to bother with it too much. You do want to keep an eye out for seeping though. A little light bleeding in the first few days is normal, but past that, or more than a little and take him back to the vet asap. Feed soupies and nothing but soupies for at least 2-3 weeks. Even when the surgery wound looks healed, keep in mind that it is still healing on the inside. He also has to rebuild the strength of those muscles as they heal. Cutting through muscles is pretty damaging and can take some time to heal. Usually they are really not considered "FULLY" recovered until about a year or so after surgery. Sometimes more. Obviously you have the added issue of his stomach having expanded and the valve stuff, so he will probably take even longer to recover. Koda was on soup for about a month. He didn't get bones for a good 2 months if I remember correctly, and even then we weaned him back into it starting small with really pulverized bones and watching constantly for blood in his stools.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2011 15:46:25 GMT -5
i did what Katt said, but i had my girl on cage rest for longer. i had her in the cage for about a week, seperated from my other girl. i let her out in small intervals, like 20 minutes, and once she got a bit to crazy, she went back into her cage.
i did the soupy thing for a few days to a week, but then i had to use normal food, which the vet said was okay, just no bones, so she had muscle meats for about a month, after her surgery and then she got some bones.
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Post by katt on Apr 20, 2011 15:50:24 GMT -5
i did what Katt said, but i had my girl on cage rest for longer. i had her in the cage for about a week, seperated from my other girl. i let her out in small intervals, like 20 minutes, and once she got a bit to crazy, she went back into her cage. Yeah I said at least. Guess I was not clear enough haha thanks for clarifying! Koda was confined to a smaller than normal cage for about a week or two. And the first several days I didn't let him out for longer than 15 minutes most of which time I was holding and snuggling him. Even after the first 2 weeks, he was still confined to his cage and had no hammocks or shelves or ramps or tall boxes or anything like that for quite a while. A month or two at least if not more.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2011 18:02:31 GMT -5
wow the vet said he can go back to regular food by the weekend if he's eating/pooping well. SHe knows he's on raw. I'm willing to be more conservative and wait. Did you have any trouble getting them to eat bones after?? I have some ground meats with bone, and fairly small bone, good second step after the soup/mush?? Poor boy hates being alone in the cage
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Post by Sherry on Apr 20, 2011 18:46:26 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2011 19:43:16 GMT -5
excellent thanks Sherry! SHould have known there would be a thread around here! Did have the brain power to think. lol Neka wont settle alone. I knew this would be an issue. He's ALWAYS hated being alone in the cage. He was alone for months in a very small cage at the petstore with no interaction before we got him, and always figured that is why he freaks when alone in the cage. I'm worried he'll hurt himself more being alone then in with zeke. When the two are together (i've been watching them since he came home) they just sleep. When I tried to move zeke, neka got up and started biting the cage and scratching at it, trying to climb it.. total tantrum. i put zeke in cage and both asleep in 2 mins
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Post by Sherry on Apr 21, 2011 9:47:49 GMT -5
Then, yes- keep Zeke in with him, and just watch that Zeke doesn't "overclean" Neka's incision.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 21, 2011 9:48:57 GMT -5
I would give him a body, especially if it helps calm him down.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 21, 2011 20:20:12 GMT -5
One thing the vet said to watch for was excessive drinking, because of the kidney issues. How much is too much? he's eating ok, not as much as he did before but getting better. poops are getting browner (as opposed to black). Energy up. He was only out 3 times today for about 5/10 mins each time, and doesn't drop to sleep as soon as put back in the cage (meaning he wants to keep going lol) He doesn't seem to be drinking too much, but... he was still drinking last time and was dehydrated. any thoughts on how to monitor this?
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Post by Heather on Apr 21, 2011 21:29:30 GMT -5
You can measure your water into the bowl he's drinking out of and then measure what's left over or measure at certain times during the day and subtract the difference. This will give you how much he's drinking. Did Michelle specify how much is too much? or how much he should be drinking to hydrate but not put strain on his kidneys? ciao
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Post by miamiferret2 on Apr 21, 2011 21:35:08 GMT -5
Only way to tell is by measuring the water level in his bowl or urine output. easier to measure if you use a hanging water bottle. But I can always tell with the water bowl. Reason she told you to keep an eye out is bc excessive thirst is a sign of kidney disease/failure. He was probably very dehydrated and that can put a strain on the kidneys. I take it the blood tests showed that his kidney function was off? I wouldn't worry I'm sure he'll be fine. just keep an eye out.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2011 9:01:50 GMT -5
NO she didn't give me any idea how much he should be drinking. just said too much could be an issue. His kidney function was..... 180, should be i think she said 118 or so. She said it was high, but it was hard at that time to say if it was high due to failure or just the stress he'd been under. I asked about follow up blood work and she was hesitant unless there is an issue because he'd have to be sedated to draw the blood. I understand this as I can't see her getting blood from him awake. I'm having a hard enough time getting meds INTO him awake.... his spunk is back, at least in the short spurts it takes to fight taking meds LOL Thanks for the ideas. I think i will take him in for a check up in the next week, hopefully a visual check will be good enough for the vet to determine he's still doing well. I'm hoping if he can recover from this with out his kidneys acting up then he shouldn't have any issues in the future.
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