Post by Deleted on Jun 8, 2014 1:40:31 GMT -5
Hi...
So Maverick and the gang are out with me tonight staying with a friend, away from home. He's been running and playing and being his normal self. He ate about 4.5 ounces of raw chicken (variation of the beginner's diet provided here.) He's had high energy levels, alert and curious. He's sleeping now, as he should be.
However his belly seems to be enlarged... Almost like when my late ferret, Willy, was like when he was in late stages of Lymphoma. I'm really afraid he's got fluid in his abdomen, a little, not a lot. I felt a hard lump in his gut area, right around in his intestines area, so I'm assuming it's digested food that's about ready to come out (a ferret's business/poop), but he pooped and I still felt it there.
He has had a little bit of cough, but that's always been there. One vet had said he sounded a little asthmatic once and another vet told me that that's because he's a Canadian ferret. She said Canadian ferrets have a slight cough and it wasn't anything to worry about. However it's been getting worse over the last 6 months to a year.
The same doctor that said Maverick is a Canadian ferret (thus explaining his cough) didn't seem to think his breathing was off at all and we had discussed possible heart disease, because he has in the past stopped playing after a short time out of the cage and curled up under the bed to sleep. I kind of thought he might have adrenal disease, with the lack of energy, thinning hair and more play aggression than usual. He got an implant for that almost 2 weeks ago and he energy levels seem to have gotten higher.
So... I'm really concerned that he might be gaining fluid in his abdomen for some reason (most probable cause is heart disease, but he's also not breathing funny 98% of the time.) Could it be that he's eaten way more than he usually does (about 3.5 oz of a more watered down chicken, about 1.5x the water) and is just bloated? He doesn't seem to be doing anything but the slight extension of his belly around the area of his (slightly enlarged) spleen, on both sides. He was moving around and exploring with my baby girl earlier and ate 1.5 oz around 8 am, 1.5 around 3 pm and 1.25 oz around 8 pm.
The food was home ground raw chicken (legs with bone), raw ground turkey (no bone), a little chicken liver, bone powder, kelp and F-Botic, with a little water to thin it out to help with mixing. It's kind of a thick mix this time, with larger chunks and large pieces of chicken skin. He's appetite tonight was good. However I have been feeding them by hand, with my fingers and a spoon, trying to encourage them to eat the new diet. They haven't had kibble in about a week and an half now.
I'm going to call my vet in the morning, but it's late now, almost midnight. I'll also check the forum in the morning.
I feel like I could also been focusing too much and finding any little thing that could be wrong... but I worry that if I don't keep on eye on him all the time something could sneak up on me... and my little Maverick... He's my baby, I'd hate to see him hurting... I'm going to stop worrying for the night... I don't think he's dying tonight, but I worry excessively...
So Maverick and the gang are out with me tonight staying with a friend, away from home. He's been running and playing and being his normal self. He ate about 4.5 ounces of raw chicken (variation of the beginner's diet provided here.) He's had high energy levels, alert and curious. He's sleeping now, as he should be.
However his belly seems to be enlarged... Almost like when my late ferret, Willy, was like when he was in late stages of Lymphoma. I'm really afraid he's got fluid in his abdomen, a little, not a lot. I felt a hard lump in his gut area, right around in his intestines area, so I'm assuming it's digested food that's about ready to come out (a ferret's business/poop), but he pooped and I still felt it there.
He has had a little bit of cough, but that's always been there. One vet had said he sounded a little asthmatic once and another vet told me that that's because he's a Canadian ferret. She said Canadian ferrets have a slight cough and it wasn't anything to worry about. However it's been getting worse over the last 6 months to a year.
The same doctor that said Maverick is a Canadian ferret (thus explaining his cough) didn't seem to think his breathing was off at all and we had discussed possible heart disease, because he has in the past stopped playing after a short time out of the cage and curled up under the bed to sleep. I kind of thought he might have adrenal disease, with the lack of energy, thinning hair and more play aggression than usual. He got an implant for that almost 2 weeks ago and he energy levels seem to have gotten higher.
So... I'm really concerned that he might be gaining fluid in his abdomen for some reason (most probable cause is heart disease, but he's also not breathing funny 98% of the time.) Could it be that he's eaten way more than he usually does (about 3.5 oz of a more watered down chicken, about 1.5x the water) and is just bloated? He doesn't seem to be doing anything but the slight extension of his belly around the area of his (slightly enlarged) spleen, on both sides. He was moving around and exploring with my baby girl earlier and ate 1.5 oz around 8 am, 1.5 around 3 pm and 1.25 oz around 8 pm.
The food was home ground raw chicken (legs with bone), raw ground turkey (no bone), a little chicken liver, bone powder, kelp and F-Botic, with a little water to thin it out to help with mixing. It's kind of a thick mix this time, with larger chunks and large pieces of chicken skin. He's appetite tonight was good. However I have been feeding them by hand, with my fingers and a spoon, trying to encourage them to eat the new diet. They haven't had kibble in about a week and an half now.
I'm going to call my vet in the morning, but it's late now, almost midnight. I'll also check the forum in the morning.
I feel like I could also been focusing too much and finding any little thing that could be wrong... but I worry that if I don't keep on eye on him all the time something could sneak up on me... and my little Maverick... He's my baby, I'd hate to see him hurting... I'm going to stop worrying for the night... I don't think he's dying tonight, but I worry excessively...