|
|
Post by gfountain on Feb 20, 2014 12:59:27 GMT -5
My little guy isn't feeling too well. He took a fall last night while I was fixing his food. He had climbed up me to see what was taking so long, so I set him on my shoulder where he frequently rides. I took him & his dish into the other room to sit down with him. Before I got to the couch, he decided to take a flying leap over to it, but he misjudged the distance. His front feet caught the edge of the cushion but he couldn't hold on & hit the floor pretty hard. He jumped right up and ran away to his tunnel for a few minutes before coming back to eat, but he didn't eat very much, maybe 1/3 of what I gave him. He played fine for a little while longer before climbing into his cage for bed. This was not unusual. He usually konks out 1/2 hour to an hour after his evening soups. I put the rest of his dinner in his cage for him to finish through the night.
This morning he hadn't eaten more than a couple more bites of it and his nighttime poop was very runny and mucousy. I offered him some fresh soup but he didn't want it. I was afraid to leave him for the day without knowing he'd eaten, so I refilled his kibble bowl and he was picking at it when I left at 7:30. He didn't get up and play this morning, but that's not all that unusual - he often only gets up long enough to give me morning kisses and tell me good-bye before I leave for work.
My daughter just went home to check on him. She can't tell if he's eaten or not, but he's done another very runny poop. She said it's not mucousy, but more watery, sort of greenish/yellowish/brownish. He's sleeping so she didn't disturb him.
So how concerned should I be? Could the poops be off from not eating much through the night? Or maybe the food was beginning to turn resulting in an upset tummy? (That could possibly explain why he didn't eat much also.) I don't think it was off - it smelled fine and was only thawed from the evening before, but I suppose it's possible. Should I be rushing him to the vet? or just watching him? His activity level has been normal SO FAR, because all he normally does is eat, sleep, and poop until I get home in the afternoon.
|
|
|
|
Post by Heather on Feb 20, 2014 13:07:52 GMT -5
I would be keeping a very close eye on him. Offer some fresh dinner and see what happens. If he refuses to eat and is lethargic definitely get him to the vet. It may be coincidence and he may have picked up a mild bug (without the fall that's what would have come to mind) He may have injured himself in the fall and is sore. My concern would be internal injuries. Considering his fall, it's possible. The fact that his stool is not dark or tarry might actually point to the fact that he's ok. Ferrets are funny this way, they hide both their illnesses and injuries very well. Be careful feeding meats and kibble together, it often results in upset stomach (not all the time but often). If he's behaving fine and you rule out injury, you might want to try a tsp of pumpkin (unless you've got some slippery elm powder around) This is just a temporary fix, it cannot be used long term
I hope he's feeling better, please keep us posted
ciao
|
|
|
|
Post by unclejoe on Feb 20, 2014 14:43:53 GMT -5
If he landed on his head at all he could have a mild concussion. Ir could take a few days to get back up to speed.
|
|
|
|
Post by gfountain on Feb 20, 2014 14:54:42 GMT -5
Yes, I'm worried about internal injuries also. And I am aware of the danger of feeding kibble & raw together. We are in the soup stage of switching right now and there is always a 3-4 hour time lapse between the kibble and raw. If he had eaten the soup this morning, or if it was apparent that he had finished last night's dinner in the early morning hours, I would not have given him the kibble this morning.
I just went home to check on him again... fortunately, my work is only 2 miles from my house. He was sleeping - again or still, don't know which, but he had only eaten at most a few bites of the kibble. I sort of measured it this morning, so could tell not much was missing. He was pretty lethargic when I got him up, so I poked and prodded gently all around on him to see if anything was tender, and he didn't react negatively. He's not used to being up in the middle of the day, so it took him a while to get moving, but he seemed ok. His favorite place to play is the bathtub so I put him in there for a few minutes and he jumped out on his own.
I had my daughter thaw a chunk of pumpkin (half a teaspoon) when she was home earlier, so I gave him that and some chicken baby food, which is his absolute favorite food. He ate about a third of a jar and wanted more. I had to get back to work, so I put a little more in his cage with him, and he was working on that when I left. So, keeping my fingers crossed...
I'll be able to tell more about his activity level when I get home this afternoon. That's his normal 'hyper' time.
|
|
|
|
Post by gfountain on Feb 20, 2014 15:01:09 GMT -5
Yikes.. I didn't think about a concussion! I don't think he landed on his head, but I'm not sure.
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2014 15:22:31 GMT -5
Oh gee, I'm sorry about Slinks. This one has me puzzled, I'm not sure what I would do. He may just have knocked the wind out of him, and like Heather said, he isn't pooping stools that indicate internal bleeding. That's good. You will be home in a little while, and you can watch this evening and see how he looks. I will be thinking of you guys and fingers crossed, all will be fine.  |
|
|
|
Post by gfountain on Feb 20, 2014 15:34:10 GMT -5
Thanks. I'm frustrated because I have to stay at school until almost 5:00 today for drama practice. I just want to be at home where I can watch my boy. <sigh> I'll go home at 3:00 to check on him again, and hubby will get home about 4:00 unless he stops by school to help me with the kids. Slinkee doesn't like Thursdays either...  |
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2014 15:40:42 GMT -5
It's just like with our skin kids, this stuff never happens when we are home or have an easy day.
|
|
|
|
Post by gfountain on Feb 20, 2014 15:46:35 GMT -5
True, but at least it's not Friday... stuff usually happens on Fridays at my house, so what should have been a simple doctor/vet visit turns out to be a visit to the ER :/
|
|
|
|
Post by Sherry on Feb 20, 2014 16:52:27 GMT -5
Honestly I would get him in and looked at to be safe. As you mentioned it could well wind up with an ER visit otherwise.
|
|
|
|
Post by gfountain on Feb 20, 2014 18:24:24 GMT -5
I'm getting ready to head home for the night... finally. I went home at 3:00 and Slinkee seemed fine. He was ready to get out and play, and mad at me because I didn't have time to let him. There was another poop in the box & it was pretty normal.
If Slinkee is still 'weird' tonight during his play time, I'll take him to the vet tomorrow morning. It's the ferret guy's day off, but I've got him on alert for tonight and tomorrow. He (the doc) is pretty confident from the information I've given him that Slinks was just shaken up and will be fine, but he said he'll meet me at the office in the morning if I think he needs to be seen.
Internet is down at my house, so I'll update in the morning. I'm off to check on my baby...
|
|
|
|
Post by gfountain on Feb 21, 2014 9:23:12 GMT -5
Well, I can honestly say that I've never seen any animal behave the way Slinkee did last night, lol. He was so extremely hyper that we just sat on the floor with him and laughed at him for an hour or more. He literally was galloping like a horse up and down the hall, stopping only to bounce himself off the wall or someone's leg. He dragged a fuzzy blanket out of the office and wrestled with it until it gave up, then gator rolled it until he was so tangled up he couldn't move. He just lay there breathing heavy and grinning at us until we got him untwisted. Then he took off again! With the worry of the night before, I had forgotten to get his soup out of the freezer to thaw for last night, so I gave him baby food again with a bunch of raw chunks, 1/4 inch size. He ate like a little piggie, picking out all the chunks first and actually leaving some of the baby food... yay! Poops are all normal, good color, well-formed - actually, the best poops I've seen since starting the switch. He's up already this morning, and was begging for playtime when I had to leave.  The vet has already called me this morning to check on him, and he doesn't think I need to take him in, so I'm just going to watch him over the weekend. If anything seems to be wrong, Doc said he'll meet me at the office and won't charge emergency fees since it's on his recommendation that I'm not taking him today - WOW! |
|
|
|
Post by Sherry on Feb 21, 2014 9:26:29 GMT -5
Sounds like he did knock himself silly for a while, silly ferret. Glad he's doing so much better!
|
|
|
|
Post by msav on Feb 21, 2014 10:59:37 GMT -5
I have seen this before with my ferrets. They take a fall or get kicked or feet stepped on by a clumsy human or dog. They run off all bottlebrushed and hide for about 10 mins (most of the time less) then come back out acting like a fool. I think they get a panic attack or perhaps get a bit of stress.
The first ferret we owned got stepped on and he immediately started to hack and cough and started puking he was also pooping slime. we got him to the vet and they did all the xrays and such, then sent him home. he was fine. The vet said he had some bruising and was probably in shock. He eventually recovered about 2 days later and was he old self again. They are quite resilient but are great at hiding their pain. So if they do show Pain that is cause for immediate action.
The youngsters fall all the time and immediate get up and start dooking.
We used to think it was really cool to have a shoulder ferret, However they have no fear and always think they can jump further that they actually can. we no longer give them shoulder rides.
|
|
|
|
Post by unclejoe on Feb 21, 2014 13:01:51 GMT -5
"We used to think it was really cool to have a shoulder ferret, However they have no fear and always think they can jump further that they actually can. we no longer give them shoulder rides. "
I've always wanted a shoulder ferret, but most of them get tired of it after a time. Even if I had a hoodie, it's too hot here to wear it 10 months a year.
I'm thinking a harness for the fuzz attached to a collar on me, lol. How crazy is that
|
|
